What Does a Positive Mindset Have to Do with Aging?

Have you ever noticed that some people seem older than their years and others seem so much younger?

Why do you think that is? Genetics? Lifestyle?

Maybe who they spend their time with?

I’m sure all of those things play a role in our aging process, in fact studies show that they in fact do play a role, but they are necessarily the most important one. Studies have shown that people who have a positive attitude and are connected to their families and communities live longer and healthier lives than those who focus instead on all the things that are wrong with their lives, health, relationships…

What Can You Do?

There is a whole psychology that studies the effects of a positive mindset and the changes you experience even on a physical level that determine your health – physical and mental. Many believe that success brings about happiness, but in fact, happiness brings about success. The more you can find things to be happy and grateful about the more you will attract more of the same.

I read Shawn Achor’s The Happiness Advantage and in it, he described an experiment. He encouraged people to end each day by sharing 3 things that they are grateful for. Each night should be something different and do this for 21 days. It is said that it takes 3 weeks (or 21 days) to start a new habit. So, this made perfect sense to me. I decided to do this. My husband at the time was being quite negative and irritable so I encouraged him, actually I dared him to participate saying he couldn’t do it and that if he didn’t he would have to buy me something that at the time I was really wanting. He of course agreed because he wanted an excuse to not buy it for me.

Each night for 21 nights, we shared what we were grateful for. For me, it was easy. For some reason, it was much more difficult for him. He started with really simple things like I’m grateful we have this beautiful home in Costa Rica. I’m grateful for you being by my side. Funny thing about building a positive attitude…it makes you want to keep going! On night number 22, I got into bed and turned off the light. He immediately turned it back on and said, “What are your 3 things?” He then proceeded to rattle off 4 or 5 things he was grateful for! Keep this in mind because it will be super important in a little bit.

What the Hell is Happening to ME?

When we live in fear, doubt and focus on the negative things we fill our bodies with hormones that deplete us. The more we get tired, stressed, and even angry the more of those hormones the body craves even though it takes a toll. It is what we become accustomed to. Stay in this mindset too long and you will be chronically tired, have joint pains and maybe even develop illness.

Remember when I said to keep in mind the turnaround in my husband’s mindset? Well here is the rest of the story. He had been in a very negative place and becoming more and more unhappy for a few years. I really was at a loss because we had so much to be thankful for. Well, it turned out that his cancer that doctors thought they had gotten all of had actually gone into his bones and had even advanced into his brain. When we had discovered it, it was terminal. Even though this news was the worst you could imagine, he still preferred to focus on the positive.

We Can See Through The Darkest Hours When We Focus On What Matters Most

The day we were waiting for the test results that would send us home to prepare for the end, a young woman maybe in her 40s was wheeled past us in excruciating pain.  He reached out for my hand and said, “There but for the grace of God go I.  I have lived a wonderful life full of things many people can only dream of.  That young thing has only begun to live.  If this is the end, I am ready and I am grateful for having you by my side.”

Even today no matter what I have going on in my life, I remember that moment and I know…there is ALWAYS someone who is worse off than I am.  Therefore, I will forever be grateful for my experiences, my relationships, my health, and my ability to turn my thinking around in even the most trying of times.  It makes me younger.  It makes me youthful.  And it can make it that way for you as well.

More Recent Posts: