Positive thinking: Practice this stress management skill

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Positive thinking: Practice this stress management skill

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/positive-thinking/SR00009

Positive thinking helps with stress management and can even improve

your health. Overcome negative self-talk by recognizing it and

practicing with some examples provided.

Is your glass half-empty or half-full? How you answer this age-old

question about positive thinking may reflect your outlook on life,

your attitude toward yourself, and whether you're optimistic or

pessimistic.

In fact, some studies show that these personality traits — optimism

and pessimism — can affect how well you live and even how long you

live.

With this in mind, take a refresher course in positive thinking.

Learn how to put positive thinking into action. Positive thinking is

a key part of an effective stress management strategy.

Understanding positive thinking and self-talk

Self-talk is the endless stream of thoughts that run through your

head every day. These automatic thoughts can be positive or negative.

Some of your self-talk comes from logic and reason. Other self-talk

may arise from misconceptions that you create because of lack of

information.

If the thoughts that run through your head are mostly negative, your

outlook on life is likely pessimistic. If your thoughts are mostly

positive, you're likely an optimist — someone who practices positive

thinking.

Living longer and happier through positive thinking

Researchers continue to explore the effects of positive thinking and

optimism on health. Health benefits that positive thinking may

provide include:

Decreased negative stress

Greater resistance to catching the common cold

A sense of well-being and improved health

Reduced risk of coronary artery disease

Easier breathing if you have certain lung diseases, such as emphysema

Improved coping ability for women with high-risk pregnancies

Better coping skills during hardships

It's unclear why people who engage in positive thinking experience

these health benefits. But one theory is that having a positive

outlook enables you to cope better with stressful situations, which

reduces the harmful health effects of stress on your body.

How positive thinking gives way to negative thinking

But what if your self-talk is mainly negative? That doesn't mean

you're doomed to an unhappy life. Negative self-talk just means that

your own misperceptions, lack of information and distorted ideas have

overpowered your capacity for logic and reason.

Some common forms of negative and irrational self-talk include:

Filtering. You magnify the negative aspects of a situation and filter

out all of the positive ones. For example, say you had a great day at

work. You completed your tasks ahead of time and were complimented

for doing a speedy and thorough job. But you forgot one minor step.

That evening, you focus only on your oversight and forget about the

compliments you received.

Personalizing. When something bad occurs, you automatically blame

yourself. For example, you hear that an evening out with friends is

canceled and you assume that the change in plans is because no one

wanted to be around you.

Catastrophizing. You automatically anticipate the worst. You refuse

to go out with friends for fear that you'll make a fool of yourself.

Or one change in your daily routine leads you to think the entire day

will be a disaster.

Polarizing. You see things only as either good or bad, black or

white. There is no middle ground. You feel that you have to be

perfect or that you're a total failure.

You can learn positive thinking

Instead of giving in to these kinds of negative self-talk, weed out

misconceptions and irrational thinking and then challenge them with

rational, positive thoughts. When you do this, your self-talk will

gradually become realistic and self-affirming — you engage in

positive thinking.

You can learn to turn negative thinking into positive thinking. The

process is simple, but it takes time and practice — you are creating

a new habit, after all.

Periodically during the day, stop and evaluate what you're thinking.

If you find that your thoughts are mainly negative, try to find a way

to put a positive spin on them.

Start by following one simple rule: Don't say anything to yourself

that you wouldn't say to anyone else.

Examples of typical negative self-talk and how you might apply a

positive thinking twist include:

Negative self-talk Positive spin

I've never done it before. It's an opportunity to learn something

new.

It's too complicated. I'll tackle it from a different angle.

I don't have the resources. Necessity is the mother of invention.

There's not enough time. Let's re-evaluate some priorities.

There's no way it will work. I can try to make it work.

It's too radical a change. Let's take a chance.

No one bothers to communicate with me. I'll see if I can open the

channels of communication.

I'm not going to get any better at this. I'll give it another try.

Practicing positive thinking every day

If you tend to have a negative outlook, don't expect to become an

optimist overnight. But with practice, eventually your self-talk will

automatically contain less self-criticism and more self-acceptance.

You may also become less critical of the world around you.

Practicing positive self-talk will improve your outlook. When your

state of mind is generally optimistic, you're able to handle everyday

stress in a constructive way. That ability may contribute to the

widely observed health benefits of positive thinking.