The Power of Positive Thinking

When I first met my husband, I was an extremely negative person. If something bad happened--say, unexpected car trouble--I immediately went to the mindset that the sky was falling and that my life was over. He taught me that together we can work everything out and that it could ALWAYS be worse. I can see the transformation in the last few years of my thinking and the way I react to certain situations. When something bad happens now, instead of automatically expecting the worst, I try to think of alternative ways to deal with the problem. I can definitely see the change in my life in the last year and I feel like a lot more positive things are coming my way. I am a huge believer in what you put out there is equal to what you get back.

It got me thinking about positive thinking and if there's any link between positive thinking and a happier life. I've always heard about positive thinking among those with terminal illness, but is there any evidence that positive thinking can really change your life? I Googled it and found a study from Korea called "Positive-Thinking and Life Satisfaction Among Koreans." (The study from 2007 can be found here.) The study included 409 people and asked them questions based on their life satisfaction, positive thinking and their demographics. The conclusion of the study was this: "We provided empirical evidence that positive thinking may indeed play a significant role in life satisfaction. Therefore, positive thinking would offer important direction for the growth of life satisfaction and interventions aiming to remediate the effects of demographic variables on life satisfaction."

My challenge to my followers is to try to start thinking of the glass half full. It can definitely be a hard process to change your thinking, especially if your thinking is as negative as mine has always been. If you're going through a rough time right now, it can be hard to think of the good things in life that you have, but I encourage you to try it. Let me know in the comments a time when positive thinking has paid off or has helped you.