Do You Want to Be Happier? Ask Yourself This Question Every Morning

What’s the thought that wakes you up in the morning?

Do you burden yourself with all the work you have for the rest of the day? Do you remind yourself of all the emails and paperwork you have to sort out?

Or, do you think about what makes you happy?

The kiss your little kid gives you in the morning; the kiss your partner gives you when you get back home from a rough day?

Albert Einstein once said: “The most important decision we make is whether we believe we live in a friendly or a hostile universe.”

Although this zen master wouldn’t agree that positive thinking is all it takes, it sure is a good start…

Is the world you live in hostile or friendly? How do you look at it?

Every single day we have to make that decision.

“Do I live in a good world or a bad world?”

However you view the world will have a drastic impact over your attitude throughout your entire day. Remez Sasson puts it another way by saying that positive thinking “…brings brightness to the eyes, more energy, and happiness.”

It gives you a sense of understanding when things happen that you didn’t necessarily expect.

For some, the next situation happens almost every day. Someone spills his anger on you? You don’t have to react with the same automatic response. It’s completely okay. After all we are not robots, and his anger is feeling and only his.

An old lady walks like a tortoise in front of you? Yeah, wait until you get old… have a bit of compassion. Don’t react like an erupted volcano.

If you make a decision, and stay firm to it, that the world is a great place to live in, the chance that you will react like a jerk is getting lesser and lesser. Have a bit more patience and compassion.

Good attract good, even better!

Susan Reynolds, co-author of Train Your Brain to Get Happy, says that “feeling pleasure can be so stimulating for your brain that it is primed to respond to pleasure in a way that reinforces that pleasure.”

The more good you search out in this world, the more good you’ll receive in return.

As Napoleon Hill states in one of his books. This sentence really open my eyes wide open, and I even started laughing loudly like, and I was home. alone. (described by my words):

“Every person has at least two persons in him, whether we accept that or not. Every day you have to make that conscious decision. Are you going to listen to your “bad you”, the personality that feeds your fears, guilt, and worries, or you are going to listen to your “good you” and count your treasures, blessings, good fortune, and gratefulness.”

By making a conscious choice to feed each of your persons lurking in your mind, you determine whether this world is a good or bad place to live in.

And here’s what science says about positive thinking.

Choosing to be positive offers great deal of health benefits!

It’s good for you physically, too.

Choosing to think positively provides a lot of great health benefits as Mayo Clinic states:

Researchers continue to explore the effects of positive thinking and optimism on health. Health benefits that positive thinking may provide include:

• Increased life span
• Lower rates of depression
• Lower levels of distress
• Greater resistance to the common cold
• Better psychological and physical well-being
• Better cardiovascular health and reduced risk of death from cardiovascular disease
• Better coping skills during hardships and times of stress

It’s unclear why people who engage in positive thinking experience these health benefits. One theory is that having a positive outlook enables you to cope better with stressful situations, which reduces the harmful health effects of stress on your body.

It’s also thought that positive and optimistic people tend to live healthier lifestyles — they get more physical activity, follow a healthier diet, and don’t smoke or drink alcohol in excess.

It reduces your risk of depression, decreases your anxiety, and even makes you more resilient against whatever bug is going around. People who look at the bright side of life tend to live longer, and they have an easier time coping with the stressors that ordinary life has to offer.

How to start your day more positively.

If you’re new to this whole “positivity” thing, here are some tips to help you focus more on the good than the bad:

– Choose words and statements that reflect a positive attitude: “I will have a good day” or “I’m excited about what lies ahead today.”

– Focus on things that make you happy: “I look forward to seeing my kid’s school play tonight” or “I can’t wait to see where this project at work takes me!”

– Appreciate the good things in your world: “I’m thankful for my health, the fact that I can pay the bills, and that I have such a wonderful family!”

– Spend more time with positive people, making it easier to be positive yourself!

It’s never going to be 100 percent, but if you focus on the good just a bit more than the bad, you’re making progress. It’s all about baby steps.

So when you wake up tomorrow, please, do ask yourself this question:

“Do I live in a good world or a bad world?”

And I want you to remember that you have a choice. Do yourself a favor and choose the good. It will make you happier and healthier.
“When you wake up every day, you have two choices. You can either be positive or negative; an optimist or a pessimist. I choose to be an optimist. It’s all a matter of perspective.” – Harvey Mackay

This article was originally inspired by INC.com