Developing a positive attitude

The way you think, day in day out, affects all aspects of your life. Learning to listen to your “internal dialogue” will help you recognize your thought patterns and how they may be affecting the way you handle the stressful situations of daily living. Learn about what others have done throughout the history of mankind.

Many people have found that, when they tune in to their internal dialogue, much of it is negative. Thoughts like, “I could never do that” and “What if I fail?” can seriously impact the way you behave. This, in turn, affects every aspect of your life.

When we are stressed, certain hormones are produced by the body. When released infrequently, these hormones are harmless but, when produced continuously, they can cause serious damage. Cardiovascular disease is caused in part by the continuous production of stress hormones and by the arterial damage caused by the free radicals created in the process.
Sleep more soundly!

Sleep is absolutely essential to improve and maintain energy levels, immune system effectiveness, mental and emotional clarity and overall quality of life. When you feel good, you function better.

The following tips may prove very useful if you need to sleep better!

* Decrease mental activity in the evening.
* Make preparations for the next day.
* Take a hot bath before bedtime to help relieve stress.
* Soothing fragrances, lights, and music may help as well.
* Limit activities in bed to sleep and sex only - no reading or television watching.
* If you have trouble sleeping, try sleeping in another area of the house.
* Try listening to repetitive soothing natural sounds (waves, wind, waterfall, stream, etc.) from a selected high quality sound device.
* Natural homeopathic, nutritional and herbal support may prove useful (e.g. calcium, melatonin, passionflower or valerian before bed).
* Turn off all the lights.

This last item is particularly important, as melatonin (key hormone involved in sleep/repair cycles) production may be inhibited if you sleep with the lights on.


Develop your positive attitude!

Here are some ways to help you develop a more positive attitude and better manage the stressors in your life:

* Listen to internal dialogue. Divide one or more sheets of paper into two columns and, for a few days, jot down in the left column all the negative thoughts that come into your head. Rewrite each thought in a positive way in the second column. Practice doing this in your mind until it becomes a habit. (For example, “I’ll never get this finished by the end of the day!” could become, “I will probably get most of this finished by the end of the day.”)
* Learn to communicate. Not saying the things we feel can lead to a sense of frustration, hurt, anger or anxiety . If you find communicating difficult, or are afraid of arguments or bruised feelings, take a course in communicating effectively.
* Get back to basics. Reconnect with old friends, take the dog for a walk, visit an art gallery or listen to your favourite music. Enjoy a long, relaxing bath, read a great book, tell your child a story, or ask an older relative to tell you one! It is the simplest things in life that give us the most pleasure…
* Help someone out. The simple act of helping others helps us to feel good. Pick up groceries for an aging neighbour, volunteer at your local hospital or read a book to someone with failing eyesight. If you are unsure of how to help out in your community, call your nearest volunteer centre.
* Find your spirituality. Research has shown that those who have developed their spirituality through associating with other spiritual individuals or having their own personal and unique beliefs, live longer, more satisfying lives. The secret is practising those beliefs, either through organized worship, or simple meditation in a quiet place.
* Allow yourself to be loved. The ability to love and be loved is the most basic human trait. We, as a society, have become disconnected from this most basic need - fear-based emotions (depression, loneliness, guilt and anger are the symptoms). Finding ways to reconnect with others is extremely helpful in developing a positive attitude. The following link is very enlightening. The Web of Love - Reconnecting with Source www.WebofLove.org
* Allow yourself to laugh and find humour in the simplest of things. Laughter is a powerful mood elevator. If you are feeling down, read some jokes, watch a funny movie or just act "silly" once in awhile. At times, it is a good thing to let yourself see the world through a child's eyes.
* Participate in new physical and mental activities to improve confidence levels and coping mechanisms. Building confidence could be as easy as learning the meanings of new words, learning about new topics or if you are right-handed using instead your left hand more frequently (left hand connects with more spiritaul, intuitive and creative right side of the brain).
* Follow the principles of holistic health - body, mind and SPIRIT harminization (better nutrition and exercise help improve mood and attitude)
* Remember that the mainstream media focuses on information that leads to fear, negative thoughts and emotion. Find other more positive things to do with your precious moments.
* Learn to communicate your needs more effectively. For example, instead of using common language of subordination expressed by such words as "no", "don't", "should", "stop", "good", "bad" and "have", you could instead try expressing your needs by stating "I need you to...". This peaceful language expresses needs and does not judge. For more on this refer to the book Non Violent Communication.