You have probably heard over and over again that you should have a positive attitude, or that you should think positive thoughts. What you may not have heard about is how you can benefit from a positive attitude or positive thoughts. In fact, there are many benefits to a positive attitude that you may not have ever heard about.

A positive attitude makes you feel better in general. If you decide that you will face your day with a positive attitude, you feel better - both mentally and physically. You will also find that you work more efficiently because when you have a positive attitude, your thinking becomes clearer.

A lot of people have anxiety and stress. Developing a positive outlook could be a way to overcome the anxiety. Defeating anxiety could also help in your self confidence. Positive affirmations and changing the way you think may not work for everyone, but it is worth the effort to attempt this method.

Frustrated by traffic jams, over-crowded malls, having only 24 hours in a day? Do you complain about your boss, your partner, your kids and a lack of anything really meaningful in your life? Difficulties such as these often take over our lives and become our focal point.

These difficulties create a desire in us for more peace, more money, a quieter and slower way of life. We look for the things that we believe will fill us up, that essence that seems to be missing within us.

What we think and believe will inevitably come out in our actions. In one-way or another a negative attitude can make or break a relationship. The power of your mind is a strong force and can be used to do good with or can be used to do damage with. What do you watch on TV? Who do you hang out with in your spare time? What kind of people do you work with on any given day?

A recent event game me the opportunity to experience the power of positive thinking. All too often we let the rigors of the day get to us and we end up caught in the mire. We easily lose sight of staying positive when the negativity around us creates an obstacle. It’s not until something big happens that we remember to put things into perspective.
When you have the opportunity, as I did, to assess whether you are taking advantage of the power of positive thinking: there are five questions you can consider to help maintain your positive focus. As we go through each question, I’ll use my recent experience as an example.

I believe the more we laugh the longer we will live. Laughter is one of the greatest forms of healing. I think it is great to try and make other people laugh and feel good inside to improve their mental and spiritual outlook on life. I love to laugh. My teenage sons like to poke fun of the way I laugh because I laugh long and loud. Laughing in this way obviously runs in my family because my mom and two sisters laugh the same way I do. It seems when we girls get together we never stop laughing, and we aren’t even laughing at anything funny. Is this how God intervenes in our lives to bring us the joy of laughter? I think it is.