Find Out More About The Effects Of Negative Thinking
Choose your thoughts wisely and avoid these effects of negative thinking
At times, we all have a negative attitude as a consequence of letting ourselves go through negative thoughts.
It is easier to complain than to make an effort to see the positive side of everything.
However, if we were more aware of the effects of negative thinking, both in the moment and in the long run, we would surely choose differently.
Where do negative thoughts come from?
Negative thoughts are caused by ingrained patterns related to our own beliefs: about self-esteem, security, money, people, life, and everything else.
For instance, you may have thought at some point that life is difficult. Then, whenever you felt that life was being difficult, your thought was reinforced and grew on to being a belief.
By now, you may be 42 and fully believe that life is difficult, as you've made a habit of believing that.
However, it is never too late to start discovering yourself and what your thoughts tend to default to.
Self-knowledge and self-understanding surely take time, but the rewards are enormous. You will start seeing the picture of your life much clearer as you understand what beliefs cause you to think in a negative way.
What are the effects of negative thinking?
These are some of the most common effects of negative thinking:
- Feeling down. The extent of negative feelings can go from anger, frustration, irritability, to even anxiety and depression, passing through many other feelings, none of them pleasant.
- Physical effects: the body lowers its defenses, as negativity subtracts from our energy.
Because of the emotional negative state we're in, it's also easier to see oneself less attractive and not care for our physical needs.
Besides, an extreme negative emotional state can cause eating disorders: from over eating to a complete lack of appetite and not eating enough (and not caring about it). - Closing oneself down to possibilities and the flow of abundance. When we are in a negative state we do not attract those elements that would make our lives advance; rather we attract the circumstances that support us in thinking something is wrong, and we get stuck.
Simply put, when we stay thinking negative, we attract negative emotions and events. Thus when one is in a negative state everything seems to go wrong. - A negative effect on others. Have you ever wondered how you may be affecting other people because of the way you feel?
Think about when a relative, a friend or someone at work seems to be having a bad day and how you feel when you spend time with them.
You could be making others feel the same way when you are wrapped in your own negative thoughts. - It's a waste of time! Look at all the effects of negative thinking explained above; can you tell me one single benefit of thinking negatively and being in a negative mood?
Any other than the realization that it's much better to think positively, negative thinking doesn't contribute to our lives; rather it detracts.
Effects of negative thinking in the body
One of the serious effects of thinking negatively is that it causes physical illnesses and disease, as explained by Eckhart Tolle in 'Practicing the power of now' and Louise Hay in 'You can heal your life'.
In fact, Louise Hay states that ingrained negative thoughts and negative feelings that are not released can even cause cancer.
Let's talk positive
Switching to positive thoughts is just a matter of making a conscious effort. To get rid of negative thoughts you need not fight them, but rather replace them for positive ones, just like you can replace the beliefs that don't serve you for those that do serve you.
"Little minds... are subdued by misfortune... Great minds rise above them."
Washington Irving