Positive

Having learned from Maria Duval‘s teachings all these while, I feel most people are not aware of the negative consequences of harboring negative emotions like in the area of health, family and social.

You may know of someone who has what appears to be a perfect life… a loving family, a beautiful home, an amazing career… but if this person is filled with negative thoughts, he or she is not able to fully enjoy what life has to offer. This person may be focusing instead on what is missing or what is perceived wrong.

So Maria says when you find yourself caught up in negative thinking, recognize what is happening and stop yourself. Then ask yourself one or more of the following questions.

1. How is this negative thinking serving me?
2. Am I willing to let something beyond my control consume my thoughts and ruin my day?
3. Is there something I can do about this to make it better?
4. How can I turn this negative thought into a positive one?

For example, you have some debts, instead of thinking i have a lot of debts, why not think my debts are getting less and less as months go by. Simple and positive isn’t it?

If your dominant mental attitude is positive and lovable, bliss and blessedness will follow you; if it be resistant
and hateful, trouble and distress will cloud your pathway. You imagine your circumstances as being separate from yourself, but they are intimately related to your thought world. Nothing appears without an adequate cause. Everything that happens is just. Nothing is fated, everything is formed.

Lastly, let me share with you some positive way of thinking from Maria Duval:

Here are some great positive affirmations you can use in your every day life:

1. I am happy with my life!
2. I am grateful for my family and friends!
3. I am grateful to have people who love and care about me!
4. I accept myself the way I am!
5. I accept other people the way they are!
6. No matter what is going on, it’s only temporary!
7. I can handle anything that life throws at me!
8. I am always striving to do better!
9. I will learn from my mistakes!
10. Life is a gift and I will enjoy it!

These are just a few examples, but feel free to come up with your own and change them depending on your situation. Start feeling better about yourself, your life and your circumstances today!

Positive Thinking and Weight Loss

The powers of positive thinking are tremendous when it concerns losing weight. If you continue to hold on to negative thoughts, your weight loss efforts could come to a grinding halt. On the other hand, it should come easily to you if you harness the energy from you positive thoughts. Allow me give you an example.

Chances are you consider yourself to be fat; you may even hate yourself for that very reason. Believe it or not, this is the reason why you are unable to lose the weight. Now, reverse that thinking, think yourself to be thin instead. Just suppose the positive affect it can have on your weight loss goals? Your whole outlook and mental attitude can determine your goals. This article reveals the steps to developing a positive mindset and outlined are two key steps that will help you unblock your weight loss barrier.

1. Determining Why You Want To Lose Weight.

Determine the reason why it is you want to lose weight? Are you doing it for yourself, for your health and wellbeing? Is it merely because you are no longer able to endure the snide remarks from work colleagues, maybe you keep getting rejected by the opposite sex, or is it the longing to look like your favorite celebrity?

No reason is the wrong reason to lose weight and whatever your reason, make sure you own it. Compose a complete list stating exactly why you want to lose weight. No matter how big, or how small your reasons are, make sure you jot them all down onto a piece of paper. This is the first step to breakthrough the barrier.

Once you have your list, make a few copies and post them around your house, in your car or anywhere you are likely to see them. The kitchen is an area where you are most likely to break from your healthy eating plan, so make a point of posting a list on your refrigerator and pantry doors to discourage you from breaking from your healthy eating plan. These lists serve to remind you of your goals and the reasons why you wanted to lose weight in the first place.

2. Setting Realistic Goals

You now know why you want to lose weight, therefore it is time to set yourself some realistic goals to work towards. Now in order to set a weight loss goal you need to know how much weight you want to lose. To do this you will need to determine your ideal body weight, and then subtract that figure from your current body weight.

Now that you know your goal you can set yourself a time frame. It is important to be realistic here. If you have a lot of weight to lose you can’t expect to achieve the figure of a supermodel in just a few short weeks. Setting unrealistic goals for yourself will only lead to disappointment, and inevitably your weight loss efforts will come to a grinding halt. For safe and permanent weight loss it is recommended that you lose no more than 1 – 2 pounds per week.

3. Using The Power Of Visualization

Visualization is a very powerful tool that can assist you to work towards your weight loss goals. Every morning before you get up visualize yourself at your desired body weight. Picture your new body, picture yourself wearing a brand new outfit, take notice of how it feels to have lost all of the weight. To assist you with your visualization exercise you may also find pictures of fitness models, celebrities or anyone whom you feel has the body you desire, and then place a picture of your face onto this picture.

The visualization method should not be underestimated as it is a great motivational tool used not only by people wanting to lose weight but also by many of the top athletes and fitness models.

Remember, it is impossible to lose weight overnight. It takes time to transform your negative thoughts into positive ones. Be true to yourself because you are losing weight for yourself, no matter what your underlying factors are, you are doing this is for your health and total wellbeing. So be patient and embrace each positive change in your life as it comes.

About the Author
Kelly Yuile writes about the issues of being overweight, dieting and weight loss. Her site All About Weight Loss is dedicated to healthy, safe and effective weight loss.

Be an optimist and win!

Rates of depression and pessimism have never been higher. Here is how to be an optimist and win!

If you’ve placed second in a writing contest, did you jump for joy and push for better results the next time or did you get discouraged and accept second place as an excuse not to try again?

The joy of life is it is always filled with exciting choices. You may opt to have a pessimist’s view and live a self-defeated life or you may decide to take the optimist’s route and take on a challenging and fulfilling life.

So, why nurture an optimist’s point of view? What is in it for you?

Well, Maria Duval says that optimism has been linked to positive mood and good morale; to academic, athletic, military, occupational and political success; to popularity; to good health and even to long life and freedom from stress.

On the other hand, the rates of depression and pessimism have never been higher. Depression and pessimism affect middle-aged adults the same way they hit younger people. The mean age of onset of depression and pessimism has gone from 30 years of age down to 15 years of age! Depression is no longer a middle-aged housewife’s disorder but also a teen-ager’s disorder as well which leads to overall pessimism about life.

Here is how optimists beat the odds:

1. Optimists expect the best

The defining characteristic of pessimists is that they tend to expect bad events which will last a long time and undermine everything they do. They believe that bad events are their own fault.

Optimists are confronted with the same hard knocks of this world. What differs is the way they explain their misfortune—it’s the opposite way. They tend to believe defeat is just a temporary setback, that its causes are confined to this one case.

2. Optimists tend to focus on and plan for the ‘problem’ at hand

They use ‘positive reinterpretation.’ In other words, they most likely reinterpret a negative experience in a way that helps them learn and grow. Such people are unfazed by bad situation. They perceive it is a challenge and try harder.

They do not believe that “things will never get better,” “If I failed once, it will happen again” and “If I experience misfortune in one part of my life, then it will happen in my whole life.”

Positive expectancies of optimists also predict better reactions during transitions to new environments, sudden tragedies and unlikely turn of events. If they fall, they will get up. They see opportunities instead of obstacles.

3. People respond positively to optimists because optimists seem to have more enjoyment in life.

4. Optimists are proactive and less dependent on others for their happiness.

5. Optimists find no need to control or manipulate people. They usually draw people towards them. Their optimistic view of the world can be contagious and influence those they are with.

6. Optimism is a socially desirable trait in all communities. Those who share optimism are generally accepted while those who spread gloom, panic and hysteria are generally avoided except by other pessimists.

7. In life, optimists often win elections; get voted most congenial and are sought for advice.

8. When the going gets tough, optimists get tougher.

Optimists typically maintain higher levels of subjective well-being during times of stress than do people who are less optimistic. In contrast, pessimists are likely to react to stressful events by denying that they exist or by avoiding dealing with problems. Pessimists are more likely to quit trying when difficulties arise.

9. Optimists persevere. They just don’t give up easily, they are also known for their patience. Inching their way a step closer to that goal or elusive dream.

10. Optimists are healthier and live longer

Medical research has verified that simple pleasures and a positive outlook can cause a measurable increase in the body’s ability to fight disease.

Optimists’ health is unusually good. They age well and are much freer than most people from the usual physical ills of middle age. They tend to outlive those prone to negative thoughts.

Frederick Langbridge in “A Cluster of Quiet Thoughts” said: “Two men look out through the same bars: One sees the mud, and one sees the stars.” Which one of these are you going to be from now on?

Why not look forward to success in all your endeavors? Why not be resilient? Sure, you will continue to hit lows sometimes but why just stay there and wallow in them? Why not be an example to inspire others to remove their dark-colored glasses and see the stars and not the mud?

About the Author

Jim DeSantis is a retired TV News Anchor and News Director who created “Self Esteem Magic”, a guaranteed step-by-step approach to start raising your Self Esteem in one weekend. Change your life starting this weekend at “Self Esteem Magic“.