"The most wasted of all days is that during which one has not laughed."
I love this quote. This is the front of a birthday card I was given some years ago. I have it pinned up on a notice board in my office at work. I love the picture too because I just can't look at it without at least cracking a smirk!
Did you know that a positive outlook on life, always looking for the best in situations, promotes health but negative thoughts can promote disease?
I listened to an interview with Dr Jillian Teta. The topic of the interview was actually about the Dr's book, "Natural Solutions for Digestive Health" but during the interview Dr Teta said some interesting things about how thoughts effect health. The interviewer read a quote from her book:
Did you know that a positive outlook on life, always looking for the best in situations, promotes health but negative thoughts can promote disease?
I listened to an interview with Dr Jillian Teta. The topic of the interview was actually about the Dr's book, "Natural Solutions for Digestive Health" but during the interview Dr Teta said some interesting things about how thoughts effect health. The interviewer read a quote from her book:
"It is often your own narrative, the story you attach to a situation, person or event, that causes you to experience the greatest amount of stress rather than the actual situation or person."
Think about that for a moment. Read it again.
Dr Teta went on to discuss how thoughts can create disease:
"Thoughts create emotions and strong negative emotions generate physiologic changes. What happens is that stress hormones are released, and cortisol is released, and adrenal and nor-adrenal hormones are pumped out. The consequence of these is sympathetic nervous system stimulation, heart rate increases and blood vessels constrict. These physiologic changes have biological effects and if those changes last long enough these things become chronic and you can essentially create a disease state. "
Dr Teta also mentions something a friend if hers once said:
"You may not control the events that happen in your life but you can decide not to be reduced by them."
She explains that we always have a choice about how we react to a situation. "Our reactions are typically learned but we can train ourselves to have a different reaction. "
A great example of this comes from Hal Elrod, motivational speaker and author of "The Miracle Morning". Listen to his inspiring interview if you have the time.
Hal relates how, as a 20 year-old salesman he was in a very bad car accident where he actually died for 6 minutes before being revived. He sustained numerous injuries including some brain damage and was told he would probably never walk again, but Hal chose to apply the 'five minute rule' that he had learned from his sales training. That is that whenever something doesn't go your way it's ok to be negative but not for more than five minutes. "You can't change what happened so you ask yourself, what can I learn from this experience? And how can this experience make me a better person? What can I change that's in my control? Because there is zero value in wishing that the thing didn't happen, and zero value in putting energy into blaming someone else for what happened because that doesn't make you a better person, it just makes you miserable!" Hal's positive attitude aided his recovery and after just a few weeks he took his first step!
The Encyclopaedia of Natural Medicine devotes two whole chapters to discussing the healing power within, the placebo effect, the power of faith and prayer, and that of a positive mental attitude when it comes to health and healing.
The Bible says, "A happy heart is good medicine and a cheerful mind works healing, but a broken spirit dries up the bones." Proverbs 17:22 Amplified Version.
So all of this tells me that if I want to be happier I should spend my time dwelling on positives, not negatives. Take that moment to choose a better response, and make time to laugh every day! Great advice, but is it really always achievable? I mean, some problems can seem pretty big.
There was a time in my life when a particular issue became nearly all-consuming and, although nobody else knew of my struggle, it was like everywhere I went I would hear comments or read things that kept shoving this issue in my face. I didn't know what to do so I prayed and God led me to this verse:
So all of this tells me that if I want to be happier I should spend my time dwelling on positives, not negatives. Take that moment to choose a better response, and make time to laugh every day! Great advice, but is it really always achievable? I mean, some problems can seem pretty big.
There was a time in my life when a particular issue became nearly all-consuming and, although nobody else knew of my struggle, it was like everywhere I went I would hear comments or read things that kept shoving this issue in my face. I didn't know what to do so I prayed and God led me to this verse:
"Don't worry about anything, but pray about everything. With thankful hearts offer up your prayers and requests to God. Then, because you belong to Christ Jesus, God will bless you with peace that no one can completely understand. And this peace will control the way you think and feel." Philippians 4:6-7 Contemporary English version.
That sounded like a truly wonderful promise but in the midst of my emotional turmoil, I wondered how I could actually get there, to that place of peace.
I eventually discovered I had to follow the formula written in that verse and one of the preceding verses.
Step one
In prayer I let go of my human pride and acknowledged that I needed God's help, and I prayed as many times as I needed to to remind myself that God was now dealing with my problem. So every time that the worrying thoughts popped back into my mind, which initially was A LOT - I'm talking about several times a day!
Step two
Then I turned my focus to the part of the verse that says "with thankful hearts", and in those prayers began thanking God, in faith, for taking care of my problem and also thanking Him for all of the other things He provides for me.
Step three
And then I went back up to a preceding verse, verse 4 which says:
"Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice!" Phillipians 4:4 New King James version.
So I shifted my focus to rejoicing by dwelling on things to be thankful for and listening to, or singing (mostly in the car by myself!) hymns and songs of praise to God.
This went on for a few weeks and then one day, in the midst of my "rejoicing", I just knew in my heart what to do and had an amazing peace about it!
Ever since that day, whenever I am faced with a problem I try to remember to apply this formula and when I do I find that sometimes my circumstances change, and sometimes just my attitude changes, because God knows what's best for me. This might seem like an odd kind of stress-management strategy, too simple really, not worrying and instead leaving things to someone else (God), but it works by allowing me to stay focused on the positive and rest in God's amazing peace!
Sources: interview with Dr Jillian Teta: http://undergroundwellness.com/podcasts/272-natural-solutions-for-digestive-health/ [duration 1 hour 1 min]
Interview with Hal Elrod: http://undergroundwellness.com/podcasts/289-the-miracle-morning/ [duration 59 mins]
The Encyclopaedia of Natural Medicine, Third Edition, by Michael T Murray and Joseph Pizzorno.
Bible verses from https://www.youversion.com Bible App
That sounded like a truly wonderful promise but in the midst of my emotional turmoil, I wondered how I could actually get there, to that place of peace.
I eventually discovered I had to follow the formula written in that verse and one of the preceding verses.
Step one
In prayer I let go of my human pride and acknowledged that I needed God's help, and I prayed as many times as I needed to to remind myself that God was now dealing with my problem. So every time that the worrying thoughts popped back into my mind, which initially was A LOT - I'm talking about several times a day!
Step two
Then I turned my focus to the part of the verse that says "with thankful hearts", and in those prayers began thanking God, in faith, for taking care of my problem and also thanking Him for all of the other things He provides for me.
Step three
And then I went back up to a preceding verse, verse 4 which says:
"Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice!" Phillipians 4:4 New King James version.
So I shifted my focus to rejoicing by dwelling on things to be thankful for and listening to, or singing (mostly in the car by myself!) hymns and songs of praise to God.
This went on for a few weeks and then one day, in the midst of my "rejoicing", I just knew in my heart what to do and had an amazing peace about it!
Ever since that day, whenever I am faced with a problem I try to remember to apply this formula and when I do I find that sometimes my circumstances change, and sometimes just my attitude changes, because God knows what's best for me. This might seem like an odd kind of stress-management strategy, too simple really, not worrying and instead leaving things to someone else (God), but it works by allowing me to stay focused on the positive and rest in God's amazing peace!
Sources: interview with Dr Jillian Teta: http://undergroundwellness.com/podcasts/272-natural-solutions-for-digestive-health/ [duration 1 hour 1 min]
Interview with Hal Elrod: http://undergroundwellness.com/podcasts/289-the-miracle-morning/ [duration 59 mins]
The Encyclopaedia of Natural Medicine, Third Edition, by Michael T Murray and Joseph Pizzorno.
Bible verses from https://www.youversion.com Bible App
~ take every opportunity to laugh, think positive thoughts, and rest in God's amazing peace! ~
This blog is about me, what I'm doing, what's working for me, and what's not. It includes my experiences and opinions. It is for general information only and is in no way intended to replace the advice of a health care professional.
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