Or why others are the exact opposite, having a sour outlook on life with a "doom and gloom" outlook?
Well, believe it or not it all boils down to ONE thing:
Your Attitude: Is it built on positive or negative thoughts?
ATTITUDE by Charles Swindoll
Attitude, to me is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than failures, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness, or skill. It will make or break a company…a church…a home…a person.
The remarkable thing is we have a choice every day regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past. We cannot change the fact that people will act a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable.
The only thing we can do is play on the one thing we have, and that is our attitude. I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me, and 90% how I react to it. And, so it is with you…we are in charge of our attitude.
How Does Your Attitude Affect Your Health?
Most times, we are the reason we're unhealthy. Every one of us has some level of control over our own health, but we've been ignoring the secret source to our health: our attitude.
Studies suggest that attitude alone can tip the balance between health and illness.
A fatalistic attitude can put a person into an unhealthy lifestyle.
Attitude is a person’s mental outlook, which defines the way we think or feel about things. It is a predisposition response to a person, event, opinion, object, etc., which is reflected in our body language. It has a strong impact on our decisions, actions, and our health.
A person’s attitude can be positive, negative or neutral. The type of attitude we manifest says much about who we are.
It has long been a popular notion that "dis-ease" is something that happens to us, something outside our control. Disease is an outsider that invades our bodies, rendering us helpless to resist. Excellent health, the opposite of disease, is viewed as a blessing bestowed only on a select few. It is precisely this viewpoint that sometimes keeps us from experiencing optimal health.
No one would argue the fact that there are diseases which can adversely affect our health. However, there are things that you can do to achieve better health. One of the keys is a positive mental attitude.
We know people who are constantly negative, and we have learned never to greet them with the traditional, "How are you?" The response we receive is a litany of complaints, ranging from a sore throat to achy joints. We are sorry we asked! Regardless of the circumstances, that person almost never feels good. We often wonder, “What could be the foundation of such a negative attitude?”
When you hear that a friend or family member is facing a health problem, we usually react by encouraging him or her to stay positive because we know keeping an upbeat attitude is beneficial to dealing with a health issue.
Researchers have found that there is a link between positive thinking and physical health. People who are optimistic tend to cope with diseases better and have an improved recovery from surgery. Why? Researchers feel it might be that optimism reduces inflammation related to heart attacks and strokes, lowers levels of cortisol, a hormone related to stress, and improves the immune system.
Traits such as optimism and pessimism can affect many areas of your health and well-being. The positive attitude that usually comes with optimism is a key part of effective stress management. And stress is associated with many health problems.
It has been shown that a positive attitude is able to bring changes that strengthen your immune system, boost positive emotions, decrease pain and chronic disease, and provide stress relief.
There's something to be said for a sunny outlook. Depression and anxiety can fuel many illnesses, including heart disease, hypertension, asthma, diabetes, and other illnesses. A positive attitude can ward off mental distress and may help provide important protection against these diseases, says Gunnar Engstrom, MD, a professor at Lund University in Sweden.
We can affect our healing by setting up positive conditions for change: Your mind has incredible power over the health of your immune system.
Positive attitude is able to prompt changes that strengthen your immune system, boost positive emotions, decrease pain and chronic disease, and provide stress relief.
What you think makes a difference. A positive attitude cannot guarantee perfect health, but it can make a big difference.
Over a century ago, William James acknowledged the connection between laughter and well-being when he said, “We don’t laugh because we are happy, we are happy because we laugh.”
“The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes.“
Marcel Proust
Yes, your attitude can be the secret to a long healthy, happy life.
References:
https://www.verywellmind.com/attitudes-how-they-form-change-shape-behavior-2795897
https://keydifferences.com/difference-between-attitude-and-behavior.html
https://keydifferences.com/difference-between-attitude-and-behavior.html
https://chiro.org/ChiroAssistant/Articles/Your_Attitude.shtml
https://consumer.healthday.com/does -your-attitude-affect-your-health
https://www.ahealthiermichigan.org/2015/10/05/connection-positive-thinking-health