Local health and wellness expert Rhonda Hubbard

Here’s to your health with Rhonda – April 2010

 In this life, attitude is almost everything!  The big question for many of us, then, is how to keep a positive attitude in everything we do.  Positive thinking leads to positive attitude. Someone once said to me “don’t worry that your kids are listening to you, worry that they are watching you.”  How true that is. Positive feelings are the key to having that positive attitude at home or in the workplace.  You can’t be your best without the positive feelings about what it is you are actually doing.  This may require the “fake it to you make it” action.  Did you know that the way you think, day in day out, affects all aspects of your life? Learning to listen to your “self talk” will help you recognize your thought patterns and how they may be affecting the way you handle the stressful situations of daily living.

Many people have found that, when they tune in to their  “self talk” , much of it is negative. Thoughts like, “I could never do that” and “What if I fail?” can seriously impact the way you behave. This, in turn, affects every aspect of your life. When we are stressed, certain hormones are produced by the body. When released infrequently, these hormones are harmless but, when produced continuously, they can cause serious damage.  Cardiovascular disease is caused in part by the continuous production of stress hormones.  The key to living our lives free from negative thought is to remember who we truly are free from our momentary emotional shifts. The following are powerful tips that may prove to be a stepping stone into a more joy filled life:

1. Sleep. Sleep is absolutely essential to improve and maintain energy levels, immune system effectiveness, mental and emotional clarity and overall quality of life. When you feel good, you function better.
2. Develop your positive attitude. It is all about letting go of the “emotional baggage” that holds us back from true enlightenment! All that you require is already within you, so do not give your power away by blindly following others. Rather, trust in the goodness that already resides within your heart.
3. Follow the principles of holistic health. Eat lots of fruits/veggies and make time for exercise. 
4. Choose to use positive self talk.

Examples of positive thoughts to help you:

• I will think of myself as successful!
• I will have positive expectations for everything I do!
• I will remind myself of past successes!
• I will not dwell on failures, I just will not repeat them!
• I will surround myself with positive people and ideas!
• I will keep trying until I achieve the results I want!

“Your mental attitude is something you can control outright and you must use self-discipline until you create a Positive Mental Attitude — your mental attitude attracts to you everything that makes you what you are.”
Napoleon Hill  

Here’s to your health,

Rhonda Hubbard