Does Your Attitude Affect Your Wellness?

Being aware of the consequences of a poor attitude and negative emotions on our body can help us make adjustments leading to true wellness.

Attitude can and does affect our health and wellness. How so?  Well, to begin with we need to understand just what we mean by “attitude.”  Let’s see how it is defined.  And, note, there are two ways to look at it.

First is the conventional definition. Here is what some dictionaries from my personal library define attitude as:

Thorndike Century Junior Dictionary (1942)—1. Way of thinking, acting, or feeling;  2. Position of the body.Webster’s Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary (1965)—1. The arrangement of the parts of a body or figure (posture); 2. A position with regard to a fact or state, a feeling or emotion toward a fact or state; 3. The position of something in relation to a frame of reference.Webster’s New World dictionary of the American Language ((1971)—1. A bodily posture showing a mental state or mood; 2. A manner that shows one’s disposition.Webster’s Illustrated Contemporary Dictionary (1987)—1. Position of the body, as suggesting some thought, feeling, or action; 2. State of mind, behavior, or conduct, as indicating one’s feelings, opinion, or purpose.

As you can see from the dates of these dictionaries, time may have changed many other definitions, but the definition of “attitude” seems to be basically the same.  And, applying this definition to real life, you come up with the fact that a person, you and me included, will show obvious signs of how we may be feeling about a thing, a person, a situation, or whatever that we may be confronting.

That is why, in the modern sense, when we hear a person “has an attitude,” this, in most cases, refers to that person’s ‘negative’ emotions or feelings demonstrated by his actions.  As we will see then, attitude can affect wellness, just as sure as our emotional makeup can affect our wellness.

Before we leave our definitions there is a second way to define attitude that may add some weight to the first or conventional definition of attitude.  If you fly airplanes, you will no doubt recognize the word “attitude” as an aeronautical term.  Yes, aviators recognize the word “attitude” while flying as:  “The orientation of an aircraft with respect to the horizon.” In other words, it is the airplane’s position and perspective of a given place or object that is before it that allows it to know where it really is at.

So, what does that tell us as we are here defining the word attitude? That aeronautical definition just reinforces the fact that our bearing, our demeanor, or disposition, inclination, nature, temperament, and mood toward, or with respect to, any given person, object or situation can be measured by our position toward it.  AND THAT IS WHAT CAN AND DOES AFFECT OUR WELLNESS, as we will see.

In what way does attitude affect our wellness?

As we can see from our definitions, our attitude reflects what is going on inside of us. It shows how we feel about a person, place, thing, situation, or whatever.  If those feelings are negative, negative emotions develop within us.  And if that happens, a series of processes occur within our body, involving many bodily hormones.  Our body chemistry can really be upset if that happens.  We can see it in the stress that our attitude can develop within us.  And stress has been recognized as the source of many physical, emotional, and mental problems.  These stress related results, in turn, can cause our “tissues and organs” to become inflamed, setting off another whole set of damages to our health and wellness.

In fact, the result of a negative mental attitude and negative emotions on our wellness can be underscored by what one encyclopedia says about it:  “Since 1940 it has become more and more apparent that the physiological function of organs and the organs systems are closely allied to the state of mind of the individual and that even tissue changes may occur in an organ so affected.”

So what does all this tell us?

It tells us that we need to direct ourselves away from damaging emotions and attitudes; away from strife and jealousy, away from malicious bitterness and anger, hate, resentment, envy, fear, sorrow, and wrath and screaming and abusive speech.  Rather we need to become kind to one another, tenderly compassionate as well as loving, forgiving, and tolerant of one another.  What this takes on our part is for us to live our lives with a positive wholesome attitude toward the people in our lives, the challenges we face, the changes we face, and the ever changing conditions of life.

Some people may scoff at this.  But, they will pay the price.  Science itself has learned that a negative attitude, an unloving attitude, is a major factor in many mental ills as well as in many other physical problems.  In this regard the British medical journal Lancet once noted:  “By far the most significant discovery of mental science is the power of love to protect and to restore the mind.”

In this same line of thought, a noted stress specialist, Dr. Hans Selye, said:  “It is not the hated person or the frustrating boss who will get ulcers, hypertensions, and heart disease.  It is the one who hates or the one who permits himself to be frustrated.  ‘Love thy neighbor’ is one of the sagest bits of medical advice ever given.”

Attitude not only affects your wellness today,

but attitude can also determine how long you may live.

In this regard, note what was stated very well some years ago by a Dr. Robert Samp.  Referring to a University of Wisconsin study, he stated that it was revealed by that study that “there is a definite personality type among people blessed with long life.”  In that study it was found that these were people with a moderate way of living and a positive outlook (or attitude) on life.  Included were the following:

1. A willingness to adapt to the challenges and changes in life;

2. Continuing to work after retirement, even if it meant taking volunteer jobs;

3. Avoiding prolonged periods of stress, physical or mental;

4. Eating and drinking moderately;

5. Developing broad interests in life.

Not as a doctor but as a layman who has researched this subject and who has observed attitude’s affect on my own wellness and on the wellness of those I care about, I can only conclude that we all need to be very aware of our attitude.

There are many more studies and much more information that can be related on this subject of attitude and its affect our on our health and wellness.  But the bottom line is that we should all strive for a positive and wholesome attitude toward all the things in our lives.  That includes the people in our lives, the events in our lives, and the ever changing circumstances around us.  If we do this, we will be a giant step closer to achieving the wellness that we so much are seeking.

In future posts it is our intention to share information that may inspire a good attitude.  Also, we hope to cover more information on some practical tips in helping us change a negative attitude into a positive attitude.

As a further note, if you have already let your attitude get out of control somewhat, here is a place where you can find some natural supplements to help you deal with the consequences, such as stress and its effects.  Such natural supplements have helped me at times.

CLICK HERE FOR DR. WHITAKER.COM.

Tags: affect your wellness, attitude, attitude affects your wellness, health and wellness, negative attitude, negative emotions, stress

This entry was posted on August 20, 2010 at 7:45 pm and is filed under Wellness Tips. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.

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