When life gets bogged down with worries and daily stressors — be they work, cooking, cleaning, doctors’ appointments, or taking the kids to school — it is important to remember one thing. Smile.
While smiling is not magically going to change your life, the optimism behind that smile just might. Smiling can brighten your day, bring out joy in those around you and always makes people wonder what you are up to. But more importantly, having an optimistic perspective can increase your overall health.
According to an article in the Loma Linda University Health health library, “Researchers have reviewed the results of over 80 studies to look for common findings and found that optimism has a remarkable impact on your physical health.”
This study was based on the overall longevity of people with optimistic personalities and how that mindset impacts heart health, immunity to germs, cancer outcomes, pregnancy outcomes, the body’s ability to survive disease, how the individual handles pain and other health aspects.
The final discovery: “It seemed that those who had a more optimistic outlook did better and had better results than those who were pessimistic.”
So the bottom line is having a positive outlook on life may increase happiness, health and the ability to take on the day-to-day rush we are greeted with every morning.
It is important to note that being positive is not always the easiest thing to ask of ourselves, but thinking about trying to change our outlooks and perceptions of the world is a step in the right direction. To help everyone out, here are a few ideas from the article for how to become more optimistic.
- Think positive! This is very generic advice but really, try to think positively about yourself and others around you, and you might start to see a difference in your own life.
- Don’t be competitive. If you are comparing yourself to others then you will never be happy. Each person is a beautiful representation of life and everyone has unique talents not to be competed with.
- Don’t be a “Debbie Downer.” Go out of your way to find the good in situations and it will become easier over time.
- When challenged with a problem, try to imagine a positive outcome. Success over defeat is always important to focus on.
- Explore your beliefs about life’s meaning and purpose.
- Exercise. This is something that may cause you stress to begin with, but once you establish a routine you might just find that you enjoy it. Improving your physical health through exercise, healthy eating and attaining adequate sleep will impact your life positively.
- Finally, challenge your mental capacity every day. Go out of your way to learn something new each day and you will find that you have something positive to look forward to.