When I was in grammar school, we had a hypnotist give a presentation. It was fun and interesting — especially because I got to be one of the volunteers to go on stage and be hypnotized. I don’t actually remember much of my part in the show… but I do remember what the hypnotist told us to demonstrate the power of the mind.
He picked one kid out of the crowd. A classmate of mine named J.R. He asked the boy how he felt. J.R. said he felt fine. But what if someone came up to J.R. and said that he didn’t look so good? If one person did it, maybe nothing would happen. But what if, throughout the school day, ten or twenty people came up to J.R. and told him he looked sick, or like he wasn’t feeling well, or like he should go to the nurse? After a while, maybe J.R. would start to wonder if he was sick… or start to feel ill. If enough people give him the suggestion that he may not be healthy, his mind may tell his body to start feeling sick.
I’ve never forgotten this example… although sometimes I forget to apply it to myself and my life. Being negative and expecting the worst can be very easy. Finding the positive side of things can be challenging. I know it is for me.
The last few weeks, I’ve been feeling very… BLAH. Not sick, not hurt, just blah. Low energy, faint headache, achy body, tired all the time kind of blah. If I start thinking about feeling blah, and start focusing on the symptoms, they seem to get worse. If I do something else — go for a walk, call a friend, read a book — the blah feeling fades away.
Your attitude — whether it is positive, negative, or a combination of the two — can have an impact on your physical health.