Positive Thinking Challenge Part 1: The Importance of Positive Thinking

Updated February 8, 2019

Next month, my tiny preemie will turn 4 years old.  I remember the day she was born like it was yesterday.  In fact, my mind is automatically flooded with all of the memories related to her hospitalization moment each time I drive near the hospital she was born at, or if I’m listening to the radio show that I would always listen to while on my drive to or from her hospital visits.  With each reminder, I distinctly recalled the vulnerability and the uncertainty of the times.  I remembered feeling helpless, hopeful and every emotion in between. In the end, as tough as the experience was, my husband and I never felt hopeless or defeated—we always maintained a positive attitude which carried us and led us to personal growth.

Over the next 7 blog posts, we’ll be talking about positive thinking. It has a huge impact on every aspect of our lives and something we should all strive towards.

Why Think Positively?

Our thoughts are very important as they have a lot of power over our attitude, what we get done, how we perceive the world around us, and even how we impact others. In short, it really is pretty important to pay attention to what we think and how we think. We like to think of our mind and the thinking we do as something isolated and separate from our body and our environment. After all, what could our thoughts have to do with our overall health or how well we do in school or at work? How could our private thoughts impact our relationships with loved ones? They are just thoughts. As long as we don’t voice them, they shouldn’t have an impact on anything at all, right? Wrong!

Your Thoughts Are Powerful

What you think has big effects on your body, your environment, and those around you. You’ve experienced this when you watched a sad movie or recalled a sad memory–you feel the emotion. Your thoughts affect your emotions and your body. When you think about the huge amount of work that’s piling up on your desk or the meeting you have with the new boss in the morning, your heart rate speeds up and you may even feel a little sick to your stomach. You can’t sleep well and, as a result, feel groggy the next day.

When your thoughts are going in a negative direction for a while, you may find yourself getting depressed and suffering from all the physical symptoms that go along with it. Thankfully, the opposite is also true. You can lift your mood by thinking positive thoughts. Research shows that positive thinking helps our bodies heal faster. Think about the famous placebo effect. By thinking you’re getting a pill that will fix you up, your physical symptoms improve. I could go on and on. The point is that our thoughts have a direct impact on our bodies. And it doesn’t stop there…

How you think and what you think also affects those around you. Think back on a time when you had a boss who was always in a good mood and had nothing but positive things to say. Then think about the co-worker who was always focusing on the negative and maybe even seemed depressed. This person can “infect” and influence an entire team. Are you starting to see why how and what you think is important and the true impact it has?

Call to Action:  Over the next 7 blog posts, I would like to challenge you to pay attention to your own thoughts. If you find yourself thinking negatively, work through the tips and strategies I’m going to share with you to turn it around. Make an effort to start thinking more positively.

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