On Being Positive

We all want to live a long, happy life, but we don’t care so much about having to grow old. While we can’t escape getting older we can choose to be happy.

            Being optimistic, grateful and appreciative have tremendous consequences for physical well-being including stress levels, cardiovascular health and longevity, says California psychologist Dr. Noelle Nelson. In short, striving to adopt a positive attitude today will pay dividends in our 80s and 90s. As we age, our thoughts and attitude are self-fulfilling. She says scientific research proves that our current thoughts, emotions and attitudes are vital to our ability to live long and happy.

             Research has shown that older people who are happy have a 35% lower risk of dying over five years than those of the same age who are unhappy. Additionally, a Yale School of Public Health study has linked negative beliefs to brain changes than can cause Alzheimer Disease.

            The researchers used MRIs to examine healthy, dementia-free subjects and found that participants with more negative beliefs about aging showed a greater decline in the volume of the hippocampus—a part of the brain crucial to memory—than those who were more positive. The leader of the study said it is believed that the stress generated by negative beliefs can result in pathological brain changes.

            But all is not lost. Negative feelings about aging can be mitigated and positive beliefs can be reinforced; in other words the adverse impact is not inevitable. In her book, Happy Healthy ...Dead: Why What You Think You Know About Aging is Wrong and How To Get It Right, Dr. Noelle Nelson talks about retaining the exuberance and energy of youth while harnessing the wisdom gleaned from experience.

            We only need to make the effort.