Originally published in the Eldorado/Silver Legacy/Circus Circus Hotel Newsletter July 2017
Did
you know your thoughts mold your brain, its chemistry,
and its activity? Did you know that activity can influence your life? Dr Daniel Amen, Neuroscientist
and Double Board-Certified Psychiatrist, said “Every thought you have releases
chemicals in the brain, Hopeful thoughts release chemicals that help you feel
happy and calm, Negative thoughts release chemicals that make you feel stressed
and sad…what you bring your attention to determines how you feel and act,
focusing too much on negative thoughts can lead to destructive
behaviors—behaviors that can ruin your important relationships and ruin your
mind.”
Science has shown, negative emotions, make
our brains focus narrowly on a specific thing. For example a negative emotion,
fear, when we fear something our senses i.e. vision, hearing...etc. literally
focuses on the thing we are afraid of…the senses can’t think beyond that
thing—good to keep us alive however not good for success.
Conversely Mayo Clinic
said “The health benefits of positive thinking; Increased life span, Lower rates of
depression, Lower levels of distress, Greater resistance to the common cold, Better
psychological and physical well-being, Better cardiovascular health and reduced
risk of death from cardiovascular disease, Better coping skills during
hardships and times of stress.”
For success in our lives we need to be able
to see
the bigger picture and see what is possible and see many different ways of
doing something. Author of Chicken Soup for the Soul books Jack Canfield said “Successful people
maintain a positive focus in life no matter what is going on around them. They
stay focused on their past successes rather than their past failures, and on
the next action steps they need to take to get them closer to the fulfillment
of their goals rather than all the other distractions that life presents to
them.” With negative emotions, negative thoughts we can’t see the next possible
step.
What if you’re a negative person can you
change? “You are not stuck with the brain you have you can make it better…” Dr.
Daniel Amen. He suggests how to get rid of these negative thoughts that we do
the following steps
1.
“Write it down. When those automatic negative
thoughts start tumbling around in your mind, write them down to clearly
identify them.
2. Investigate.
Ask yourself, are these thoughts even true? Uninvestigated thoughts can lead us
to act in harmful ways.
3.
Talk back. If you discover that these negative
thoughts are false, talk back to them! Tell these thoughts you know they aren’t
true!”
How can you become more positive?
1.
Positive focus—focus on the positive of all
and everything i.e. it’s snowing today---that’s great because it’s adding
moisture to the ground which will help the gardens
2.
Optimism---hopefulness about the future i.e.
today it’s raining---in a day or 2 the rain will stop
3.
Gratitude—being thankful “happy people aren't
grateful, grateful people are happy”---when we’re being grateful it’s difficult
to have negative thoughts
4.
Forgiveness---forgiveness is a gift to
ourselves—hatred, resentment, jealousy are all emotions that only hurt the
person that’s holding them…as Elsa sang “Let it
go”
5.
Serving others---when we serve others we
often think about the people we’re serving and forget about our own
difficulties
6.
Building relationships with positive people
7.
Exercise—exercise releases in the brain the
feel good chemicals called endorphins
8.
Meditation---focusing on
relaxing and calming thoughts releases endorphins too
“Every
thought we think is creating our future” Louise Hay---choose to make your future a healthy and successful one
and start to work on thinking positively. If you’re not naturally a positive
person, its’ ok you can start today to reprogram your brain and live a healthier
life.
Great article to refer to
"7 Ways to Practice Positivity and Optimism Every Day" by Faisal Hoque
Image
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/faisal-hoque/7-ways-to-practice-positivity-and-optimism-every-day_b_5606981.html
Great article to refer to
"7 Ways to Practice Positivity and Optimism Every Day" by Faisal Hoque
Image
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/faisal-hoque/7-ways-to-practice-positivity-and-optimism-every-day_b_5606981.html
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