How Negativity Affects Your Physical Health

“Change your thoughts and change your world.” Norman Vincent Peale

Chronic stress from negative attitudes can upset the body’s hormone balance and deplete the brain chemicals (neurotransmitters) required for feelings of happiness. Negative emotions can weaken the immune system. The mind, body, and spirit are interconnected. When one is affected, the other two will suffer. For example, someone with chronic negativity towards life can also have co-related depression and fatigue. Anger and hostility has been linked to hypertension and cardiovascular disease. Many health problems such as chronic fatigue, depression, insomnia, and gastrointestinal diseases will not entirely clear up on their own, unless the mental and spiritual aspects are also addressed.

Some common negative emotions are: worry, fear, depression, guilt, resentment, lack of contentment, complaining, and anger. These emotions can open the door to sickness and disease. Worrying generates anxiety and reves up your body. People who are chronically anxious have a dramatically greater risk for developing asthma, arthritis, headaches, and peptic ulcers. Studies have shown that worry, fear, anxiety and other negative emotions weaken natural “killer cells” in our bodies. Killer cells actually attack abnormal cells.

Research has shown that positive thinking can aid in stress management and even plays an important part in your well-being. According to the Mayo clinic, positive thinking is linked to a wide range of health benefits including: longer life span, less stress, lower rates of depression, resistance to the common cold, better coping skills, and better psychological health. However is positive thinking alone enough? No, you must replace every thought with a faith-filled statement and scripture. Say out loud these scriptures daily and any other helpful ones and write them out on index cards.

Philippians 4:8

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.

                                 

Philippians 4:6

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.

Philippians 4:13

I can do all things through him who strengthens me.

Romans 12:2

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

Ephesians 4:31-32

Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.

John 14:27 ESV

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.

2 Corinthians 10:5 ESV

We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ.

WildernessMentality, Stop Your Stinkin’ Thinkin’ by Stephanie Reck

Out With the Old and in With the New

Before we can move into our new season we have to let go of the old first.

“Old what you may be asking?”

1.      Old attitudes that kept us in the “wilderness,” and moving into our “promised land.” These attitudes include: complaining, murmuring, fault-finding, covertness, thanklessness, and idolatry.

2.      Old mind-sets. Allowing our minds to think whatever it wants, and not taking every thought captive into the obedience of Jesus (2 Corinthians 10:4-5). Thinking thoughts that are negative, faithless, and hopeless. Some of us have strongholds and lies that we have believed for years and need to be torn-down by renewing our minds in the Word of God.

3.      Holding onto the old things of the past. Some friendships, ministries, and possibly marriages did not succeed but when we hold onto these things and condemn ourselves repeatedly for our past mistakes we cannot move forward. Ask God to forgive you if you need to, and believe that God has forgiven you and that He does not want you dwelling in your past any longer. (Philippians 3:13-14).

Moving forward into our promised land will require “letting go” of former things. Former things that are no longer working for us, and possibly areas of sin in our lives that must be dealt with.

Ask yourself what is no longer working in your life? For example you want to go forward in your life and experience all that God has for you but you are still holding onto selfishness and pride. Perhaps God is asking you to let go of worry and fear. Anything that could be hindering you from moving forward God very well may have you to remove these before preceding to what He has for you next. If you have gotten yourself into the habit of complaining, God may have you deal with this before experiencing your breakthrough or blessing that you have been waiting for.

Ask God what old things need to be discarded in your life, and what new things He is wanting to bring into your life. You may have to get rid of the old before God can make room for the new. Some things no longer work for us, and we need to have wisdom to what those things are. If you are going to purchase a new car and your old car is still in the garage, how can you make room for that new car? Some will try and fit the new car with the old car, but why would you want to hold onto your old car if it no longer is working? Some of us need to stop holding onto to the things in our past, so that God can make room for the new things He is trying to bring to pass.

If what you are doing in your life is not working, it is time to make some changes. The mental health definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again expecting different results. Is it time for change?

For additional reading on this topic, “Wilderness Mentality Stop Your Stinkin’ Thinkin’” can be ordered at www.createspace.com/4036785.

Keep a Right Mind-Set

This is not an article on how to teach you how to think positive as secular psychologists or as new age thinking would, but how to keep a right mind-set through the truth in the Word of God. So many Christians are living pessimistic, defeated, and negative lives. God wants us to think His thoughts and be people of God filled with faith in our speech and in our thoughts. When we beat ourselves up, think negative thoughts about ourselves or others, or think worst-case scenarios over every difficult circumstance that arises in our lives, we are not living the life that God has for us. Most likely, if we are thinking these thoughts we will become depressed, anxious, tired, and be susceptible to a lowered immunity. You may be saying, “Well, you just don’t know what I go through.” I don’t have to know what you go through, I can say my life has been a fight. Nothing has simply come easy for me, and I have faced more trials and tribulations than I could possibly write about. That is why I am writing this article, and have even written a book about it (see below)*. I have endured seasons of wrong thinking, and it left me mentally and spiritually paralyzed. Sometimes, we can have a predisposition for negativity or be dealing with depression, this can make negativity more prevalent. You will have to fight harder to regain control of your thoughts. Yes, I said fight. You can be on all the medications to help with depression but if you are not working to keep right thoughts, the medications will not be as effective.

Be careful of what you allow to enter your mind. Not all thoughts that come into our minds should we dwell, ponder, or agree with. Check your thoughts, and ask, “Does that agree with what God would say?” If it does not, immediately get rid of that thought. Start thinking of something else, a positive, faith-filled thought. If that thought keeps coming back, stop the thought and replace with another thought. It takes time to discipline our thought life, especially if your thinking has been that way for a while, or perhaps you were raised in a home where you were exposed to wrong thinking. But today is the day of change. Ask God to give you His mind and His thoughts. Keep pursuing this until right thinking is automatic, and all traces of your former thinking is far behind.

Focus on what is right in your life, and keep a daily gratitude list or journal. In the beginning this may feel strange or that it is not really helping, but renewing thinking patterns takes time; so keep going until you have achieved a right mind-set. Write out on note cards, scriptures and positive affirmations and say out loud daily, this is a way to purposely think about what you are thinking about. You have to be purposeful in pursuing this change in thinking. It may take a lot of work in the beginning, but it will be worth it. Negative thoughts will come to us all, but we don’t have to accept them. Train your mind to not accept negative, defeated, or discouraging thoughts.

Be mindful of the company you keep, if you are hanging out with negative people; the negativity could rub-off on you. Be careful of the material you read and the things you watch on T.V. Negative reports through the news can dampen our faith and cause us to think negative. Fill your mind and fill your life with positive, faithful people and positive activities. Guard your heart and mind constantly from negativity. When a difficult situation comes up in your life, don’t start speaking what you see, but start speaking faith over your circumstances. It is important not to react to our circumstances, and this begins in our thoughts first.

Scriptures to write on note cards to say out loud daily to help with right-thinking.

Philippians 4:8 Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. Philippians 4:6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. Philippians 4:13 I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Ephesians 4:31-32 Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you. Romans 12:22 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by renewal of your mind. Ephesians 4:29 Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.

*For additional reading on right thinking, order your copy of, “Wilderness Mentality, Stop Your Stinkin’ Thinkin’.

Conquering Automatic Negative Thoughts (A.N.T.s)

If your mind is filled with negative thinking, you will live a defeated life. Negativity is a by-product of how you perceive life. Your perceptions about your life and circumstances, greatly influence your thoughts. A lot of the times our perceptions about our lives are not realistic. We have unrealistic expectations for ourselves and others, this can cause us to have flawed perceptions. Flawed perceptions will invariably led to negative thinking.

Our thoughts usually are automatic. If you have been raised in a negative environment, it is likely you will struggle with or have struggled with negative thinking. If you have had a series of chronic, stress-related issues, it can be common to develop a negative mind-set, because of difficult circumstances. If you are around negative people frequently, their negativity can affect you. It is important that we are careful who we spend our time with. Negativity breeds negativity. Hang-out with positive, faith-filled people. It is also common if you are depressed, your thinking will be negative.

It is important to consider how we develop Automatic Negative Thought (A.N.T.s):

1.    From learned environments (the family you were raised in).

2.    Difficult circumstances that have overwhelmed you and caused you to feel hopeless.

3.    Negative influence (people who you hang around).

4.    Depression (medical or spiritual).

5.    How you perceive your life and circumstances (Do you see the cup half-empty or half-full?).

6.    Unrealistic expectations of yourself or others.

7.    A combination of any of the above.

Key Steps to Overcoming A.N.T.s:

  Take every thought captive. DO not allow yourself to entertain, ponder, or dwell on  negative thoughts.

 When negative thoughts come, say, “STOP,” out loud to retrain your brain to stop the  negative thoughts. If you are in public, you can say, “STOP” to yourself.

 Replace negative thoughts with positive, faith-filled thoughts. Confess God’s word over  the negative thoughts.

 Don’t give up! It takes usually between 21-30 days to form a new habit. Retraining your  brain does take time, but with the help of the Holy Spirit it can be done.  

  Know your weaknesses and be ready to respond in faith to them.

 If you are depressed and it is medical, consider talking to a holistic doctor/nutritionist  and take a supplement to build your serotonin levels (make sure the doctor/nutritionist  beliefs line-up with yours). If your depression is spiritual, find an intercessor, prayer  warrior to pray in agreement for your deliverance.

  If you have been devastated by your circumstance, start applying faith and hope again to  each difficult circumstance. We walk by faith, not sight.

 Let go of ALL expectations for yourself and others. Apply grace to yourself and   others.  Stop excepting people to be something they are not.

 Change your perceptions. How do you view your life? Be determined to see the “glass  half-full.” Pray and seek the Holy Spirit to help you overcome negative thinking.

 In the morning, when you arise, say, “This is the day the Lord has made and I will be glad  and rejoice in it.”

 Meditate on God’s word. Choose a scripture and roll it over your mind throughout the day.

Negativity is toxic to your mind, emotions, soul, and your physical body. Negativity will cause you to live discouraged, defeated, and depressed. Be determined to live victoriously and hopeful.

A.N.T.s that need to be squashed immediately:

·        Fear

·        Anxiety

·        Worry

·        Hopeless

·        Discouraged

·        Defeated

·        Critical

·        Judgmental/fault-finding

·        Complaining/murmuring

·        Jealousy/envious/comparing

·        Perfectionism

·        Self-hate/condemnation/guilt/shame

·        Offense/bitterness/unforgiveness

·        Discontentment

Positive Confessions. Confess God’s Word over your life daily.

1.    By His stripes I am healed. Isaiah 53:5

2.    The Son has made me free. I possess absolute freedom. John 8:36

3.    The love of God is shed abroad in my heart by the Holy Spirit. I have the ability to love everyone. Romans 5:5

4.    I can do all things through Christ who strengths me. Philippians 4:13

5.    God has not given us a spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and a sound mind. 2 Timothy 1:7

6.    Greater is He that is within me than he that is in the world. 1 John 4:4

7.    Casting all my cares upon Him, who cares for me. 1 Peter 5:7

8.    There is no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus. Romans 8:1

9.    I have learned, in whatsoever state (circumstance) I am, to be content. Philippians 4:11

Bible Verses on Positive Thinking:

·        Let your speech be always with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how to answer every man. Colossians 4:8

·        Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but which is good to the use of edify, that it may minister grace unto the hearers. Ephesians 4:29

·        Refute arguments and theories and reasonings and lofty things that sets itself up against the true knowledge of God; and lead every thought captive into the obedience of Christ. 2 Corinthians 10:3

·        Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. Philippians 4:8

·        Don’t be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be known to God. Philippians 4:6

·        Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. Romans 12:2

·        Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat of its fruits. Proverbs 18:21

Change your thoughts and change your life.

For additional reading on overcoming negative thinking, you can order a copy of the author's book, Wilderness Mentality Stop your Stinkin' Thinkin' from www.createspace.com/4036785