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Positive Emotions and Their Benefits: What is your opinion, ATS?

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posted on Feb, 18 2010 @ 04:44 PM
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Look on the bright side....its good for you!!

Your brain controls everything. From your heartbeat, to your breathing....

So, just like any other management system, you would expect it to work better if it were saturated in positivity. But you would be amazed at the actual health benefits that positive thinking can provide.

Life can be very frustrating. Especially for people like "us" here on ATS. It's hard to be intelligent, and understand what a decieving, vapid and underhanded world we live in.

But hey, everything has it's positive side, right?

Now, I dont mean that you should go out and buy a copy of "The Secret" or study the laws of attraction. And No, you dont have to wear tye-dye and have a peace sign around your neck. Simply looking at the brighter side of situations can be very beneficial.

Being happy is a choice, not a state of being. We will get into some advice about thinking positively later, but first, the benefits:




People who are usually happy, enthusiastic and content are less likely to develop heart disease than those who tend not to be happy, according to a major new study published today (Thursday 18 February). The authors believe that the study, published in the Europe's leading cardiology journal, the European Heart Journal [1], is the first to show such an independent relationship between positive emotions and coronary heart disease.

"We have several possible explanations," said Dr Davidson. "First, those with positive affect may have longer periods of rest or relaxation physiologically. Baroreflex and parasympathetic regulation may, therefore, by superior in these persons, compared to those with little positive affect. Second, those with positive affect may recover more quickly from stressors, and may not spend as much time 're-living' them, which in turn seems to cause physiological damage.

Source article


Well, that certainly makes sense. I know Ive had some horrible times in my life. It seems nearly impossible to just relax and "let go", and even more difficult to sleep.
Without rest, our bodies get on a "hamster wheel" of stress. The nest thing you know, you are in a perpetual state of emotional distress. You need down-time, and respite. I know so many people that live a life of pure agony, because they constantly worry. It's an easy trap to fall for.

But beyond just matters of the heart, what else can benefit.

The Mayo Clinic states that positive thinking is essential. Here, we find a great list of potential benefits:

■Increased life span
■Lower rates of depression
■Lower levels of distress
■Greater resistance to the common cold
■Better psychological and physical well-being
■Reduced risk of death from cardiovascular disease
■Better coping skills during hardships and times of stress

The Mayo Clinic Website= Source

So it can stregthen your immune system, help with coping, and psychological issues. It has been shown to help you eat better, and exercise more. Which makes sense, I feel good after exercise. I feel good when I eat healthy. Being positive should be just as easy, it should be hard-wired into our brains.

Im not saying that it's unhealthy to be "depressed". Because it's not. But I think that you would find that you are depressed less, if you chose more positive routes of thought.

Im not ignoring chemical imbalance either. It's tough to get the Seratonin going if your brain is depleted. I know, because I was at one time, on an anti-depressant. I eventually won that war with myself, but I understand not everyone can.


Well, that's easy to SAY, Inertia Zero. What about actually doing it?

Heres a few things that might help you. I decided about a year ago that I would lead a "BS Free" lifestyle. Like I mentioned earlier, being happy is a choice. It is a lifestyle. Just like some people are great at sports, some at art, others are naturally positive thinkers. Im sure you know a few.

So here you go, just some suggestions....

1. Be aware of your thoughts. If you find yourself thinking in a negative fashion, try to be aware, so you can focus on the positive side.

2. Quit worrying about the things you cant change.

3. Realize that almost anything can be funny.

4. Understand that living a positive lifestyle does not in ANY way mean that you turn a blind eye to negativity. Some say ignorance is bliss. It's NOT. Ignorance is stupid no matter what. Just try to understand that you cannot change everything, and try to find humor in things you cant change.

5. Go outside. Exercise. Play. Your body is designed to do so.

6. Avoid people that have a negative impact. That includes family members, friends and coworkers. You are not obligated by any right to be brought down by anyone. If they cause you grief, tell them. If they continue, do not associate.


What is you take on this, ATS friends?

What are your lifestyles like?

Do you find it hard, or easy to live positively?

What helps you stay positive?

What are your suggestions?



posted on Feb, 18 2010 @ 05:56 PM
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reply to post by InertiaZero
 

Yes, I like this thread or any that helps get the message over regarding the benefits of being positive.

I think there is a little key though to achieving this state of mind. Firstly it helps greatly if you don't have a guilty conscience, and that can be easily achieved by being good person.

It might sound a bit obvious, but the worst times of my life, is when I have gone of the rails. Getting caught up in self and not respecting or considering others.

I feel extremely positive these days even though I spend too long reading things on ATS. It is easy to let world affairs get you down, just read anything in the news and you could get very depressed.

I see this for what it is though, an attempt to keep us all in a perpetual state of fear and negativity. people are their most vulnerable in this condition.

I have spent many years of my life growing up, and now, as a conscious decision I am becoming more child like. By that I mean being prepared to be playful, more so than being prepared for an apocalypse.

I am blessed in the knowledge that everything will work out fine for me and my loved ones, It always has done, and so I can use my own experiences to bolster my faith and reinforce my optimism.

Another thing that helps me stay positive is the fact that I have overcome my fear of death. I believe absolutely in the afterlife and an eternal spiritual existence, this something that atheists, nihilists and existentialists miss out on.

What atheists do when they argue with a believer, is attempt to destroy a persons faith, positivity and contentment in life. According to their beliefs it is a childish fairytale, so what's it to you? if we believe in a fairy tale if it makes us happy.

In a way, it doesn't really matter who is right the atheist or the believer. I think the believer will get through life a much happier person because his beliefs strengthen his/her positivity and removes fear from a persons life, it undoubtedly helps when we face the inevitable grief of losing loved ones.

So to all atheists who get angry with believers who are always spouting. All we want is for you to be as happy and as content as we are. ( just going to put my flame proof suit on)
Just knowing that things will work out is my formula for staying happy and positive. You can't rationalize this statement (sorry pragmatists) it all comes down to faith.




[edit on 18-2-2010 by kennyb72]



posted on Feb, 18 2010 @ 08:36 PM
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Your thoughts and emotions (psychological state) absolutely affect your physiology. My favorite example is cortisol, a primary stress hormone.

Stress and depression--emotions--increase the production of cortisol. The result is increased blood pressure and increased blood glucose. This is precisely why stress can cause weight gain, or at least make it substantially difficult to lose it.

Many hormones are directly regulated by external influences via their affect on emotions. Adrenaline...cortisol....sex hormones.

It even gets to the point, for many people, that if you're simply thinking about eating something sweet your body will begin to produce insulin in anticipation of the consumption that may soon follow.

So, yeah, thinking positively, at the very least, works through the negative stimulus of hormones.

Nice thread.


-Dev



posted on Feb, 18 2010 @ 08:46 PM
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reply to post by InertiaZero
 


Excellent thread, and very timely.

Being happy is a choice, not a state of being
. I believe this also. We all have things that happen to us beyond our [apparent] control that cause us grief or sadness, disappointment, depression. Aside from those events, I think happiness is 95% choice. I can get up and be a sonofabitch, or I can greet the day properly. It's good to keep the sonofabitch on call, though, for those special moments in which he is most adept.

I think that stress and discontent are harmful to our health and physiology. Thus, those things that combat or nullify/mitigate stress and discontent benefit us. I start nearly every morning with Tai Chi. Meditation(s) on occasion. I may be a whackamole, but I'm a content one.



posted on Feb, 18 2010 @ 09:08 PM
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Our children are adults and whilst they are a great joy to us and have never hurt anyone, they've suffered from varying degrees of what might be termed 'non-specific depression' since puberty, approx.

As parents, we understand. We were idealistic and suffered disillusionment and depression too, when younger

Now, being older, we appear to have discovered a secret that perhaps (for many people) is bestowed by age, experience and acceptance

Both of us (I've noticed) have learned (or maybe we've simply 'remembered' ?) to take pleasure in the very simple things in life ---a clear, sunny day, for example. Sunsets and sunrises. The full moon or a clear, starry sky. A perfectly-made cup of tea. The garden. Other people's gardens. The antics of children and animals. Comedy, etc

When I feel a cold or flu coming on, or other ailment, I 'talk' to my body via my mind. For example, as I'm falling asleep, I repeat silently, 'My body is continually healing and repairing itself '. It's amazing how effective this is when you expect a positive result

Even the most depressing street contains one or more small examples of beauty --- even if it's only the random stacking of old, used bricks with their patina, their weathered beauty and earthen colours

A dead tree is beautiful in its own way. The aged, bitter face of a passer-by holds beauty too if you look for the little child still there somewhere behind the ravages of the years

Old people in a park, with their stiff, arthritic movements, remind of fallen leaves and gnarled branches. And if they laugh or smile, you see their naked, human spirit ... still there ... despite all the pain and disappointment of past decades

We can't 'inject' appreciation of these things into our young people, much as we'd love to. All we can do is trust that they, like us, will come full circle and like the children we all once were, will come to appreciate the golden threads of positivity that are woven throughout life's fabric




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