A Cup That's Half Full (For the Dreamers Among Us)

Photo Credit: Rob Walsh via UnSplash

This post is for the wannabes. The dreamers. The ones who have cast their sights on a star somewhere off in the cosmos and are wondering how they can lasso it with the measly lariats in their hands.

I'm here today to specifically tell you—YES YOU!—that you can do it.

But you have to believe and set yourself up for success. First, let's chat about positivity.

"Be a positive thinker!"

It sounds like some televangelist's message on Sunday morning at 6:00 AM, doesn't it? Well, being positive and earning big rewards is not all hocus pocus and feel-good feelygoods. It's science. And I'm a firm believer in science. Hocus pocus has its place, but science is cool because someone worked really hard to prove that stuff.

Did you know that positive thinkers have more energy? It's true. Negativity wears you down, but scientists have found that since positive thinkers generate more adrenaline and endorphins, they have more energy and enthusiasm than those stuck in negativity.

And positive thinkers are more resilient, too. Bad things happen to everyone, but positive thinkers have more of a tendency to shake off those bad vibes than their negative counterparts do. Barbara Fredrickson, professor of psychology at UNC states "...positive emotions help speed recovery from negative circumstances," even if the positive thinking is self-generated.

Positive thinkers are contagious, too.

We've all experienced it: that person with the sunny disposition who somehow manages to lighten the mood, bringing the group out of a collective funk. That's because positivity is biologically contagious. Having a positive outlook toward other people can release the chemical oxytocin in the recipients' bloodstreams, while "mirror neurons," which cause us to replicate the actions of those around us, can spread positivity, too.

Basically, if you're a glass-is-half-full kind of a person, then guess what? The people around you will be, too. 

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