In 1952, American clergyman and author Normal Vincent Peale put into writing what humans had known since the beginning of time but didn’t want to admit because…well, we’re not sure. Maybe because we were all afraid of what would become of us if we happened to be wrong. What was this magic Dr. Peale revealed to us? That the attitude of the mind changes lives.
There is truth in the adage that perception is reality. How we see things is how we believe they exist. In his groundbreaking book, The Power of Positive Thinking, Dr. Peale stresses that we can choose to be happy. And when we chose to be happy, we are happy. We are also more likely to be healthy, more positive in our thoughts, and more at peace with our situations.
Research shows positive thinking changes the way we think. In “The Relationship Between Neuroplasticity and Positive Thinking,” Dr. Diana Rangraves discusses how the human brain is constantly reorganizing its connections to adapt to new incoming information. Anticipating a negative event will result in a negative response. Likewise, anticipating a positive event results in a positive or pleasant response. She describes how you can see this working when you anticipate eating something you know you are going to enjoy. You begin salivating before you even start eating. Extrapolating this to life, she writes, “Thinking positively is a choice that you can make each day that has lasting, positive results on your life.”
Dr. Simon Young of the Department of Psychiatry at McGill University in Montreal wrote in How to increase serotonin in the human brain without drugs that increasing serotonin in response to happiness and well-being protects against mental and physical disorders [J Psychiatry Neurosci, Sept 2007]. He notes that exposure to light, exercise, and diet are three of four factors in naturally increasing serotonin. The other factor he addresses is increases in happiness and mood achieves higher serotonin levels.
The way you think impacts your emotional state, which then impacts the chemicals in your brain. When your thoughts are positive these changes lead to pleasant feelings and better physical health. Truly the power of positive thinking goes beyond the spiritual and emotional benefits put forward in Dr. Peale’s original publication.
Even with as much research and publication on the power of positive thought and mood, negativity seems more persistent , almost naturally so. In a 2013 publication, Vaish, et.al. wrote, “Adults display a negativity bias, or the propensity to attend to, learn from, and use negative information far more than positive information.” [Not all emotions are created equal: The negativity bias in social-emotional development, Psychol Bull, May 2013]. They proposed that negative stimuli carry greater informational value than positive and thus require more cognitive processing.
You can break that negative bias by actively seeking positive input for your brain, even if it means creating it yourself. Thus, positive thinking. In addition to not dwelling on the negative (act on that which is necessary and then move on), we have settled on four activities to begin and maintain positive thoughts.
Focus on good things. As we wrote in Location, location, location in our four steps to centering yourself, “Thinking of things you are grateful for may help you focus on positive thoughts” and is a major step toward placing yourself in a peaceful state.
Focus on the present. You can’t change the past and the future is yet to come. Concentrate on here and now. In the poem Today, Diem wrote, “Today is unlike any other day, not just another day. Come together and begin today in an extraordinary way. Today is the day.”
Focus on your joy. In Happiness or Joy, we wrote that you don’t have to be happy to be joyful. While happiness depends on a specific thing for its trigger, joy is peace and contentment – a feeling all is or will be right and good. “Joy is knowing something wonderful is happening, even joy not yet realized.”
Focus on your daily resolution. Make it your mantra and start every new day inspired by the love that comes with being alive.
It is clear that a positive attitude improves your health, improves your mind, and often improves your life. As the Dalai Lama put it, "Just one small positive thought in the morning can change your whole day." We are positive of that.
There's a hopefulness in anticipating joy even though circumstances don't point that way. I believe this is an area where the enemy of our souls thrives because if we become focused on hopelessness and despair, we spiral downward. Have you ever noticed how upbeat people often annoy others because they don't have the same positivity? Thank you for pointing out the necessary information for us who long for joy but feel stuck in despair. Our attitudes are really the only thing we have full control over.