How Emotions Impact Health: The Power of Gratitude and Positive Thinking
“The chemicals that are running our body and our brain are the same chemicals that are involved in emotion. And that says to me that we better pay more attention to emotions with respect to health.”
- Candace B. Pert, Ph.D.
Most everyone can agree on some level that what you think becomes reality. What you think and how you feel influence your life and the world around you. We all know that one person you know that no matter what may be going on they seem to always be so happy. Is happiness and satisfaction just for the lucky few, or is there actual weight behind our thoughts and feelings?
The phrase, “what we think becomes reality” is not some metaphysical, hippie philosophy. It is as real as the device your reading this article on and I’ll explain how.
Your thoughts drive your feelings and your behaviors. If you are constantly thinking about your shortcomings and failures, then eventually your actions will reinforce your feelings of failure and you just by the thought alone hold yourself back from reaching your own potential.
Tony Robbins, world renown speaker and author has said, “GRATITUDE is a direct solution to anger and fear.” You cannot feel angry and grateful at the same time.
You cannot feel fearful and grateful at the same time.
Gratitude is something we all too often take for granted and the majority of the time we do not realize how good we have it until our eyes are opened with perspective. Building a practice of gratitude into your life can be simple and I would suggest to begin first thing in the morning. Even on the busiest days, spending only five minutes practicing gratitude to boost positivity, reduce anxiety and improve well being is the simplest science backed way to a happier you. My favorite way to practice gratitude is using the five minute gratitude journal you can easily pick up at amazon. It is a journal with six months of pages for a daily 5 minute gratitude practice!
When you practice gratitude first thing, you get to take that feeling with you throughout your day! Be committed and dedicated to starting your days with a practice of gratitude and pay attention as your positive thoughts become your reality.
