How positive thinking improves life

Can positive thoughts affect us in more than just a smile on our face? Yes. Barbara Fredrickson, Ph. D. from Stanford University, is convinced of this. Fredrickson is one of the world's leading social psychologists. Her works were widely disseminated and were awarded honorary awards. For 20 years of scientific activity, Barbara has conducted a number of studies aimed at studying the influence of emotions on a person's life in the future. What conclusions did she come to? Let's find out.

How negative thoughts affect the brain

Let's imagine that you are walking through the forest and unexpectedly meet a wolf on your way. In such a situation, your brain registers a negative emotion - fear.

Scientists have known for a long time that negative emotions program gyrus to perform certain actions. For example, when crossing with a wolf, you start to run away from it. The rest of the world ceases to exist. You focus solely on the beast, fear and the desire to get away as soon as possible.

In other words, negative emotions constrict thinking and limit thoughts. Objectively looking at the situation, you could try to climb a tree or defend yourself with a stick, but the brain ignores the options available. There is no other way out for convolutions when the eyes of a predator are looking at you.

Of course, millions of years ago, the instinct of self-preservation inherent in our ancestors helped them survive and continue the race. But in our modern society, there is no need to worry about unexpected encounters with dangerous wildlife. The problem is that your brain is still programmed to respond to negative emotions in the same way - by disconnecting from the outside world and rejecting alternative courses of action.

Why are composure and the ability to control your emotions almost the most important qualities of a good boxer? Because anger and emotions in battle narrow the mental capacity and prevent tactical thinking. Look at the to-do list for the day, find it not very real and can't get started? Yes, you were paralyzed by the horror of contemplating a long list of tasks. Feeling lousy about not taking care of your health? Now all your thoughts boil down to what kind of weaklings, lazy people and loafers you are.

In every similar situation, the brain shuts itself off from the outside world and concentrates on negative emotions: fear, anger, or stress. Negative emotions keep your head from looking around for alternatives and opportunities that surround you. It's just a survival instinct.

How positive thoughts affect the brain

Fredrickson studied the effects of positive thoughts on the brain in a small experiment. She divided the test people into groups of five and showed each company a different video.

The first two groups were shown clips that evoke positive emotions. Group 1 was saturated with a sense of joy. The second five watched the frames that create a sense of pleasure.

A third company looked at images that were emotionally neutral or did not contain significant emotion.

The last two groups “enjoyed” the video sequence that generated negative emotions. The fourth five absorbed the feeling of fear, and the final five absorbed the feeling of anger.

Each participant was then asked to imagine themselves in a situation where similar feelings might arise and to write down what they would do. Each subject was given a sheet of paper with 20 blank lines, which began with the phrase "I would like to …".

Participants who watched videos of fear and anger wrote the fewest responses. And the subjects who admired the images of joy and pleasure filled in a much larger number of lines, even in comparison with the neutral group.

Thus, when you experience positive emotions such as joy, pleasure, love, you pay attention to more opportunities in your life. These findings were among the first to truly prove that positive experiences increase self-empowerment and open up new thinking possibilities.

But this is just the beginning. The most interesting influence of positive thinking comes later …

How positive thinking develops skills and abilities

The benefits of positive emotions are not limited to a few minutes of pleasant sensations. Positive experiences help build skills and develop resources for later life.

Let's look at a real-world example.

A child running down the street, jumping through puddles, waving a branch and playing with friends develops athletics abilities (physical skills), communication skills (social skills) and the ability to discover new things and explore the world around them (creative skills). Thus, positive emotions from play and joy develop skills in the child that will be useful throughout his life.

The acquired skills last much longer than the emotions that initiated them. Years later, the established strong physical form can grow a real athlete, and communication skills can show the world a competent manager. Happiness, which gave the basis for skills, is long gone and forgotten, and the skills themselves are not lost.

Fredrickson calls this feature the theory of expansion and development. Because positive emotions increase a sense of one's own strength and give rise to thoughts, which in turn develops new skills that will definitely come in handy in other areas of life.

As noted earlier, negative emotions have the opposite effect. It is they who inhibit the building of new skills due to the existence of a threat or danger.

At the end of the above, a completely logical question arises: if positive emotions are so useful for our future, how can we become positive?

How to get into positive thinking

So how do you increase the number of positive emotions in life and apply the theory of expanding boundaries and development to yourself?

Any spark of joy, satisfaction and love will certainly do its job. But only you know exactly what will work for you. Maybe it will be playing the guitar, walking with a loved one, or carving a wooden gnome for your favorite flower garden.

Nevertheless, it is worth paying attention to some activities that are suitable for many earthlings.

Meditation. A recent study by Fredrickson found that people who meditate on a daily basis experience more positive emotions than those who do not practice meditation. As expected, meditation was beneficial for long-term skills. For example, three months after the end of the experiment, the daily meditators had increased attention and determination, and their health was improving.

Letter. The study, published in the Journal of Research in Personality, examined two groups of 45 students. The first group wrote about strong positive feelings for three days. Another - on the usual topic.

Three months later, the members of the first team showed a better mood, they were less likely to get sick and turned to doctors for help. Just three days of writing about positive things had a positive impact on health.

The game. Fit play sports into your life schedule. You are planning meetings, negotiations, events and various responsibilities, putting them on the calendar, but why not find time for amateur sports?

When was the last time you indulged in an experiment and discovered new things for yourself? When was the last time you planned entertainment? Is happiness less important than a Tuesday meeting?

Allow yourself to smile and enjoy the benefits of positive emotions. Plan futsal with friends or a little adventure with your significant other. Thus, you will experience satisfaction and joy, as well as learn and develop new skills for yourself.

What comes first: happiness or success?

There is no doubt that happiness is manifested as a result of achieving success. For example, winning a championship, moving to a new high-paying job, meeting a loved one will certainly bring joy and satisfaction into your life. But do not mistakenly believe that happiness is ALWAYS preceded by success. Have you ever thought: "As soon as I receive (achieve) something, I will immediately be in seventh heaven"? There is really no need to postpone your happiness until a certain event occurs. Be happy here and now.

Happiness is both a precursor to success and its result!

The life of happy people is similar to the movement in an upward spiral. They rejoice at everything that surrounds them. Thus, they develop themselves and their skills that help to achieve success, and success itself fills a person with even more joy. And so round after round.

So what's now

Positive thinking isn't just a soft and fluffy term for wellness. Yes, it's great in itself to just be happy. But moments of joy are also essential to your mind, helping it push boundaries and acquire skills that will be valuable in other areas of your life.

You need to look for ways to build your happiness and bring positive emotions into your life. Meditation, writing, playing and whatever is not just a momentary stress reduction and a few smiles. Do interesting things, play the ball, throw yourself into experiments. Your brain will do the rest for you.