Those people with more positive attitudes were happier, healthier and lived longer. Those with negative, pessimistic attitudes were not only more unhappy, but they had a 19 percent greater risk of premature death. Attitudes are important. Each thought arising in our brain carries chemical messengers throughout our body. Positive thoughts are associated with messengers that build the immune system.
Negative thoughts have chemical components that can wear it down.
Over time, pessimistic thinking may compromise our immune systems, and the doorway to physical illness may be opened. The good news is that we can change our attitudes. We can learn to be more optimistic. We all live in a difficult world, but it is not the difficulties and misfortunes alone that harm us. It is our perception of them.