How to Jump-start Your Emotional Health

You've probably heard the expression: "It's not what you're eating. It's what's eating you!" This well-known saying reminds us that the thoughts we entertain can have an impact on our health.

Scientists have discovered that what you're thinking actually affects your physical health as well as your emotional well-being. Ulcers, indigestion, nervousness, high blood pressure and a wide variety of diseases can result from an injured immune system brought on by harmful thought patterns.

There are thoughts that heal and thoughts that hurt.

If you read this article through to the end, you will discover an effective tool to enhance your emotional and physical health.

Here are five keys to emotional well-being:

1. Emotions tag right along behind your thoughts, so guard your mind carefully.

Your emotions can't tell if what you're thinking about is really happening or if it's just an image in your head.

Prove this to yourself by thinking back to when you watched a terrifying scene on television on in a movie. Even though you knew what you were watching wasn't actually happening, you were still scared - weren't you?

Here's something to consider. About ten minutes after you start to dwell on something, corresponding emotions will follow.

We are what we eat - both physically and mentally. Pay close attention to what you're feeding your mind. The books, television, movies, newspapers and even the jokes we hear enter into our lives and become part of us.

So what's eating you? Examine what you're feeling and then ask yourself this question, "What have I been thinking about recently?"

If you have a garbage can for a head, life will look like garbage to you.

2. Learn to develop a cheerful attitude toward life.

Life can be painful, but it's possible to overcome.

Choose to behave in a cheerful way as much as possible even if you don't feel like it. You may be surprised at what happens. Cheerfulness is contagious.

A positive attitude toward life may help ward off sicknesses. Psychology Professor Sheldon Cohen (Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh) found that relaxed, happy people are less prone to catch colds than unhappy, anxious people.

3. Deal with stress as an opportunity to grow.

Stress can be a killer.

People who go through stressful events seem to get sicker more often than those who have less problems confronting them. But some people thrive on stress. This tends to show that the problem is not stress, but how we deal with it.

When we experience times of anxiety and fear, our brains release hormones as part of the fight-flight syndrone to prepare us for dangerous situations. When the body receives too many of these "danger" messages from our brains, our disease-resistance systems are weakened.

Stressful situations seem to cause increased illnesses in those who consider themselves to be victims and who react with anxiety and frustration.

Others see stressful situations as opportunities to overcome. So why not choose this positive approach yourself?

4. Make the right friends.

Select people who are cheerful instead of depressed for the majority of your friends.

Emotions can be transferred almost by osmosis. Retired baseball Coach, John Scolinos (from California Polytechnic College, Pomona), used to tell his winning baseball players, "Show me who you're with and I'll tell you who you are."

We need a positive social life that includes friends, close family members, churches and members of organizations.

Those who have satisfying social lives enjoy improved resistance to illness.

5. Let wisdom from the world's greatest book be your guide.

"A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones" (Proverbs 17:22 NIV).

"All the days of the afflicted are bad, but a cheerful heart has a continual feast." (Proverbs 15:15 NASV).

Want to jump-start your emotional health? Stop letting what's eating you hurt you and begin to enjoy life in a brand new way.

Copyright © 2004 by Patricia Wagner

Publishing Guidelines: Feel free to use this article in your newsletter or on your website as long as the author's resource box, bylines and copyright are included. Please make sure links within article and bylines are live and clickable. To request an HTML version - just send an email to wagner.art@verizon.net. If you use this article, please send a brief message stating where it appeared. A courtesy copy would also be appreciated. THANKS.

Author Photo: http://www.a-to-z-wellness.com/Images/PWagner.jpg

Receive new articles: http://www.a-to-z-wellness.com/article-updates.htm Other

Available Articles by Patricia Wagner http://www.a-to-z-wellness.com/wagner-articles.htm

About The Author

Patricia Wagner offers informative tips on living a more energetic lifestyle at http://www.a-to-z-wellness.com. She is also an artist and you can view her paintings at http://www.artbywagner.com.

wagner.art@verizon.net

More Resources

Unable to open RSS Feed $XMLfilename with error HTTP ERROR: 404, exiting

More Coaching Information:

Related Articles

5 Tips to Improve ANY Performance
Seeking improved performance at work? Wishing you could finally achieve your sports-related goals? Merely looking for a way to get more out of everything you do? What follows are five basic skills (basic in that all top achievers know these skills and apply them in some form on a weekly basis) that will dramatically improve your performance.1.
What You See is What You Get
H. Jackson Brown Jr.
Curbing the Public Nuisance (Part 2)
Yes, that pillar of society that has been with us since that slithery dude threw humanity for a curve in the Garden of Eden - that cornerstone of society has been automated.I am speaking, of course, of the public nuisance ( I wrote about him in Part 1 at http://www.
Progress Reviews: Your Key To Effective Coaching
One of the most effective ways to help your staff succeed is to provide regular, consistent coaching throughout the year. A Progress Review is a specific kind of coaching discussion, tied to the employee's Annual Objectives and Standards.
Coaching for Physicians
Is Having a Professional Coach a Solution to Optimizing your Practice's Performance? "What do you do?"The proverbial question we get asked day in and day out by strangers, acquaintances, family, and friends. We are conditioned to answer with our current job or career.
Should I Get A Coach?
Why should or would someone hire a life coach? Well, why would anyone purchase the services of a personal trainer, and interior designer or a sports coach - any professional "assistant" for that matter? After all, we all know how to exercise, how to hang a curtain and how to play our own game. But we hire a professional because we know that they will hold us accountable on our goals and objectives - and since we're paying good money for them to be there, often whether we show up or not, we have an added incentive to do so ourselves.
Masterminding Success - How to Start a Masterminding Meeting?
Masterminding is about a group of like-minded, achievement-oriented individuals who come together to combine the power of several minds to tackle problems, seek advice and perspectives in achieving their goals.Before the meeting proper begins, get into your group of like-minded individuals and before any masterminding can happen, read out loud together the 9 rules so as to instill the proper atmosphere needed for creativity.
The Problem with Blame? If You Fix the Blame, You Ignore the Problem
Have you ever found yourself in a hurry to leave the house for an appointment when you could not find your car keys?Imagine that you and a friend are in a hurry to leave for an important event. You turn over the couch cushions, rifle through the newspapers on the dining room table, search your previous day's pants pockets, and dig through your purse.
How to Choose the Right Coach for You
So you want to hire a coach but with so many choices it's easy to feel overwhelmed. How do you find the coach that is right for you? It can seem like a daunting task so here are some guidelines to help you make the right decision for you.
How to Make $100,000 Dollars as a Personal Trainer - Part C for Client!
My name is Greg Ryan. For the last twenty years I have counseled thousands of personal trainers, fitness directors and gym owners on how be successful in the health and fitness industry.
Executive Coaching - Finding a Coach and Understanding the Process
Nobody in business can fail to have noticed the recent rise in the number of coaches and consultants offering their services. But how do you go about finding a coach who will give you a return on your investment? Executive coaching might be an option for you if you are running your own business or are in an employed management role, and have aspirations to achieve more.
How Can Sceptics Get the Proof They Need
Are you one of those folks that needs to figure-it-out all the time? Are you one of those Law of Attraction students who catches yourself saying things like, "I wonder how this is going to come to me?" or, "What do I need to figure out so I know what to do next (to manifest what I desire)?" Attention Law of Attraction Students!Stop trying to figure out where/how/when your manifestation is going to come! It's not your job!Here's a great tool that will help all of you 'figure-it-outers' reduce your need to figure it out. Those of you who are thinkers need to see it or know it before you can fully accept that The Law of Attraction exists and is working in your life.
Embracing Excellence
Joey rises before dawn to pack his lunch, eager for morning to arrive so he can board the city bus that transports him to his job at a souvenir production facility. From 8:00 a.
Personal Strategic Planning
I have a few questions for you ---What if we as individuals adapted and utilized some of the same tried and true processes and methods that have given businesses the edge they need to succeed over their competition? My sense is that understood and implemented correctly professionals would be able to gain the same competitive advantage. Remarkably, this is not anything overly complicated or new and I can't take credit for developing it.
Courage and the Agony of Coaching Employees
Coaching employees on sensitive and personal topics like performance or contribution to the organization can be as difficult and agonizing as telling a young son or daughter about sex for the first time. You end up playing the same mental games in your head over and over again: "What should they be told? How much do they already know? (Or how much do they want me to think they know?) How much detail should I go into?" If you are unable to answer any of these penetrating questions, you tend to put the task off for another six months.
Worth Waiting For
Direct Answers - Column for the week of July 22, 2002I am a 31-year-old virgin male. At times I feel sexually frustrated because I've never been intimate with a woman.
Plug in Your Systems for Success
Have you ever noticed that so many of us who work diligently and ethically rarely achieve our objectives? And, why is it that those who-seemingly-work half as hard and half as long experience one success after another?The answer is twofold; successful people succeed because they implement proven, systems for success. Secondly, successful people have mastered the art of making time, work for them.
The Story "From the Chicken Coop"?
Many years ago my grandfather, had a small farm andchickens. One morning he sent me out to the chicken coop tocollect fresh eggs.
Why Things Are The Way They Are
Things are the way you think they are, because you think they are that way. An interesting statement I know, but let's break it down a bit if you will, and see what this Really means.
A Call To Do Better
I'm calling you out. Issuing a Challenge.