How Positive Thinking Will Make You Live Longer
Some older adults continue to feel good and stay active well into their senior years, while others appear to age rapidly and experience increased health problems.
Research shows that while genetics and overall physical health play a part in how people age, positive thinking can also play an important role.
It has been speculated that positive thinking may directly affect health via chemical and neural responses that help maintain an overall healthy balance.
Another possibility is that positive thinking can have a beneficial effect on people’s health by increasing a person’s intellectual, physical, psychological and social resources. Human beings were created as a free moral agent and therefore, have a choice about how and what they think, freedom of thought.
You can decide to focus on thoughts that make you feel good or focus on thoughts that make you feel bad. If you try to focus your energy on positive thinking rather than negative thinking and look for reasons to feel happy and hopeful every day; if you put your energy towards positive thinking and ways to make your life more enjoyable, you may discover that positive thinking really does help you to feel better.
Research shows that how you perceive ageing affects how long you will live. Those with more positive perceptions of their own ageing lived an average of 7.5 years longer. Therefore adjusting your perception of ageing while you’re still young can have a tremendous effect on your life expectancy.
Several reasons are being given on how a positive attitude seems to lead to a longer life. One of them is that positive thinking about ageing can increase a person’s will to live, thereby making him or her more resilient to illness and more proactive about health. Another explanation given is that the mental stress of ageing is lower for people who have a positive attitude.
“… grey-headedness is a crown of beauty when it is
found in the way of righteousness” Proverbs 16:31
“Let his flesh become fresher than in youth let him
return to the days of his youthful vigour” Job 33:25
There are many great things about ageing, but in society, messages about ageing tend to emphasize the negative aspect. In reality, people get better as they age, like fine wine. Experience, combined with maturity, gives older people great insight. Older people are more in touch with spirituality and the priorities which have true depth.
Older adults who may have limitations but are generous with their experience and resources are precious assets in their communities. By following a simple, healthy lifestyle, you can preserve your health and energy your whole life.
