Vim & Vigor - Summer 2009 - (Page 22)

you’re just six steps away from adjusting your attitude—and your health by jill schildhouse positively When life gives you lemons, make lemonade. When one door closes, another door opens. It’s always darkest before the dawn. What do these sayings have in common? All, no doubt, were first uttered by optimists. Each offers up a seemingly negative situation, yet suggests a new, positive outlook. And that twist in how we view those inevitable bumps in the road of life is what separates an optimist from a pessimist. But if you think optimists were, well, just born that way, don’t be so pessimistic! It’s a skill anyone can learn, with a little practice. While it’s likely that some people are more optimistic by nature, “it’s clear that more positive thinking can be acquired,” says Sheila Sidney Bender, Ph.D., a psychologist and coauthor of The Energy of Belief: Psychology’s Power Tools to Focus Intention and Release Blocking Beliefs (Elite Books, 2007). “Everyone can learn a certain amount of optimism.” heal Why is being an optimist so important? Your mind-set may affect your health. Researchers from the Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in Israel recently found that optimists are 25 percent less likely to develop breast cancer. And a study of hundreds of older adults in the Netherlands, published in 2004 in the Archives of General Psychiatry, found that those who described themselves as very optimistic had lower death rates from heart disease. it’s all in the attitude First, let’s take a look at what optimism is. “Optimism means that no matter what comes my way, I am empowered to make things go in a positive, healthy direction,” Bender says. “Optimists think ‘I have options’ and ‘I am in control.’ ” At the same time, optimists don’t have a false sense of reality. “They are not so naïve as to think bad things won’t happen,” explains Bender. “They realize they can do something about those bad things.” harness the power of positive thoughts Are you ready to change your way of thinking? Follow this action plan for becoming more optimistic, offered by Christopher Peterson, Ph.D., professor of psychology at the University of Michigan and a member of the American Psychological Association: CHOOSE FRIENDS WISELY If you spend more time associating with people who are optimistic, you’re more likely to think that way yourself, Peterson explains. Surround yourself with those who think the way you want to. 1 22 vim & vigor · su mme r 2 009 PHOTOGRAPH BY DMITRY MARGOLIN, FOTOLIA

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Vim & Vigor - Summer 2009

Vim & Vigor - Summer 2009
Healthy Steps
Nurturing Health
Contents
Finally... Relief from Pain
Helping Hearts
Take Action
Check Your Tech
Small Wonders
Positively Healthy
On the Cover
Culinary Cures
In a Heartbeat
Make it Last
Safe Harbor
5 Million Lives
Under the Cyberknife
Around the Region
Ask the Experts
Community Connections

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