“Nobody grows old merely by living a number of years. We grow old by deserting our ideals. Years may wrinkle the skin, but to give up enthusiasm wrinkles the soul.” – Samuel Ullman

Is it true that keeping a positive attitude on life can benefit your health and affect your life expectancy? Absolutely! According to research, scientists have proven that there is power in positive thinking, and in more ways than one.

It is important to remember that our thoughts become our words, our words become our actions and our actions culminate our well being. Do you recall being sick as a child and having your mother or father give you medicine to feel better, then later on finding out that what they gave you wasn’t medicine? Your thought was that you were given something to make you feel better; therefore your actions were that you could go out and play because you were no longer sick. This process is called the “Placebo effect”. This method can be used on ill people, and in some cases slight improvements in the patients overall health can be identified. All this was was a change in their thinking.

Researchers from Yale University found that Americans who posed a positive attitude towards aging lived an average of 7.5 years longer than those who were pessimistic about life’s progression and the effects on ones body. When one worries about aging one can exhume stress and tension that in turn can speed up the aging process. Stress has so many symptoms and side effects that the resulting tension of it can often times be mistaken for other more serious medical issues.

So remember, next time you are feeling down in the dumps …you do have some choice as to how you feel. Take some of these tips to help you focus on some positive thoughts on aging:

1.  Surround yourself with positive people.
2.  Laugh often and laugh loud.
3.  Surround yourself with what you love and what makes you happy.
4.  Keep learning. A happy brain is a healthy brain.
5.  Forgive and Forget.
6.  Don’t dwell on things that cannot be changed, but smile at the opportunities to change  the things that you can.
7.  Cherish your health.
8.  Don’t forget to smile!
9.  Every morning state out loud something positive about yourself.
10.  List the things that you are grateful for.