Just how powerful are our minds?  According to Norman Vincent Peale in “The Power of Positive Thinking” , “It has been computed that from 50 to 75 percent of present-day people are ill because of the influence of improper mental states on their emotional and physical make-up.”  He goes on to say, “Many people suffer poor health not because of what they eat but from what is eating them.  Emotional ills turn in upon yourself, sapping your energy, reducing your efficiency, causing deterioration in your health.  And of course they siphon off your happiness.”

A study in the Circulation: Journal fo the American Heart Association there is an article entitled, “Optimism appears to lower women’s risk of death, heart disease.”  DALLAS, Aug 10, 2009 – Optimistic women have a lower risk of developing heart disease or dying from any cause compared to pessimistic women, according to research reported in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association.

Researchers also reported that women with a high degree of cynical hostility — harboring hostile thoughts toward others or having a general mistrust of people — were at higher risk of dying; however, their risk of developing heart disease was not altered.

“As a physician, I’d like to see people try to reduce their negativity in general,” said Hilary A. Tindle, M.D., M.P.H., lead author of the study and assistant professor of medicine at the University of Pittsburgh. “The majority of evidence suggests that sustained, high degrees of negativity are hazardous to health.”

It has been said that we are just about as happy as we make up our minds to be.  The power of positive thinking can change our lives.  What do you do to stay positive and be happy?

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Tags: happiness, optimism, positive thinking