# Positive Attitude and Longevity



## SeaBreeze (Aug 14, 2012)

Just having a positive attitude can literally add years to your life.  There are plenty of things in life that can bring us down, but aging shouldn't be one of them. 

 If I ever start to think about the negatives regarding getting older, I personally try to look at the whole picture in life.  There are a LOT of others who have severe disabilities that they are required to live with, and they are in varying age groups from senior to infants.  Then there are so many who never had the privilege of even reaching their golden years.  Here's a short article with some insight...http://abcnews.go.com/Health/story?id=116870&page=1


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## R. Paradon (Nov 2, 2012)

Great Post!  I am very fortunate to be in good health, mentally and physically.  Of course I have a few problems that come on with older age but big deal!  My best friend here in Thailand is only a few months older than I and he has severe arthritis as well as being in what I would call 2nd phase Alzheimer's.  I spend a lot of time with him, helping him budget his money (in fact another friend and I take care of his money giving him a certain allowance each week or it would all be gone in a week), keeping his computer working and generally taking care of him.  Sometimes it is like having a young son again. But it keeps me in good spirits because I can help somebody who needs it and hopefully if I ever get sick, somebody will take care of me as well!


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## Elzee (Nov 2, 2012)

I do know that a positive attitude helps a lot. 

My husband had to go through weeks of  radiation treatments as he had cancer. He is now in remission and has really bounced back. I think that is greatly due to his positive attitude as he just wasn't going to let cancer get the better of him. At one of his treatments, when I was sitting in the waiting room,  a nurse entered the waiting room, I asked her if a positive attitude makes a difference. She said absolutely. She has noticed that cancer patients who have a positive attitude do recover better and quicker than the ones who complain and are negative. Then she told me that it doesn't matter how old the cancer patients are. She said that the patients who are in their 70s, 80s and even 90s are often the ones with the most positive attitudes, and they will recover better than a young person with a negative and complaining attitude. 

I won't forget what she told me, because I know getting old does have its challenges and so does going through radiation treatments. The best thing I was able to do for my husband was to be supportive and encouraging.


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## SeaBreeze (Nov 2, 2012)

Elzee, I wish the best for your husband, and I'm happy to hear both of you are staying positive, mind and body connection is real, and very powerful.


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## SifuPhil (Nov 4, 2012)

I think this is a wonderful topic, but I have reservations about exactly how one maintains a positive attitutde through the vicitudes of life. Even the most Pollyanna-ish person has to have a breaking point - unless they're delusional.

There is an old stand-up comedy routine I remember from the old days in NYC, where the comedian is talking about his Catholic school experiences. When the nun tells the class that if they sin they will suffer in Hell for eternity and he asks her how long eternity is, she replies:



> "If a little sparrow comes once a year to sharpen his beak on the sie of a 10,000-foot granite mountain, the time it takes for that mountain to wear down to a grain of sand small enough to fit through the eye of a needle ...
> 
> ... that's ONE SECOND in eternity!"



... at which point even the Honor students are jumping out windows, etc., etc. 

Similarly, living a long, full life must lead to at least a few bad experiences. Yes, you can "get over them" but I think the longer you live the more such experiences you're likely to have, and the more that mountain of positivity is going to be worn away.

For me, reality is the judgement I use - reality based upon experience. I've seen cancer patients as mentioned that were wonderfully positive - but I've also seen them writhing in pain from their treatments. Just the knowledge that there ARE people experiencing pain like that moderates my positive attitude. I don't trust the medical profession when they tell me fairy stories, and I've seen that the pain is very real, so how do you keep a positive attitude when you're going through all that?

I had two aunts that lived to their late 90's, the last 3 or so spent in nursing homes. They were like Yin and Yang - one was a realist that rarely smiled, wasn't much of a church-goer and was always business-like; the other was trusting of people (to a fault) and trusted her God to always provide and protect.

Two totally different personalities and ways of looking at the world, yet they both cried from their pain toward the end. 

As a realist, I cannot in all good faith believe that everything turns out great when I know that in reality it does not. I don't linger on the negative, at least I try not to, but neither do I skip around with unicorns throwing out Skittles. I try to be balanced, which means not being totally negative but also not being totally positive.


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## TWHRider (Nov 4, 2012)

SifuPhil said:


> I think this is a wonderful topic, but I have reservations about exactly how one maintains a positive attitutde through the vicitudes of life. Even the most Pollyanna-ish person has to have a breaking point - unless they're delusional.



Big ditto.

Anyone that says they have never reached a breaking point must be kin to Spock on Star Trek.  It's how we handle that meltdown, then learn to maintain afterward that separates one person from another.

I've had more than one meltdown in my life, caused by traumatic events , the worst being when I lost my son and only child in a car accident when he was 19.  That was 19+ years ago and I am still trying to maintain.  I refused to cave into "oh-woe-is-me", negativity years ago as I didn't raise my son to be that way and I still try to bring honor to his memory every day.

One thing I can always say is that I've dealt with these things drug-free, unless Excedrin Extra Strength counts - lol lol  It's another reason my passion for horses has played such in integral role in my life.  They are much cheaper and a lot more fun than those counseling places.  Aside from the dog licking your nose, nothing beats your favorite horse blowing in your ear or wrapping his Big Ole Head around you; yes they really do that:sentimental:


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## SifuPhil (Nov 4, 2012)

Awww - equine therapy! 

I tried to do the ear-blowing / nose-licking thing with my honey badger, but it didn't turn out well. 

I had the "advantage" of dealing with potentially traumatic loss fairly early in life, around age 12, so that sort of set the bar for dealing with life's ups and downs. I've been to Italian funerals where the "professional mourners" weep and wail and throw themselves on the casket - for the old-school folks this was expected, but to me it was theater. 

The way I dealt with them, and pretty much have since that time, is isolation, meditation and (in my younger days) self-medication.


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## R. Paradon (Nov 4, 2012)

SifuPhil said:


> Awww - equine therapy!
> 
> I tried to do the ear-blowing / nose-licking thing with my honey badger, but it didn't turn out well.
> 
> ...



Even when things do not go my way, I am still happy and upbeat.  I guess I am either unique or perhaps have a mental deficiency that makes me refuse to be upset.  Sifu, if I pre-pay you would you be a "professional mourner" and weep at my cremation?  If you decide yes I must tell you that you better throw yourself on the casket before the fire starts!


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## SifuPhil (Nov 4, 2012)

R. Paradon said:


> Even when things do not go my way, I am still happy and upbeat.  I guess I am either unique or perhaps have a mental deficiency that makes me refuse to be upset.  Sifu, if I pre-pay you would you be a "professional mourner" and weep at my cremation?  If you decide yes I must tell you that you better throw yourself on the casket before the fire starts!



Sure, not a problem, be happy to help, just let me know where the -

WHOA, Wait a sec! FIRE?!? You mean like, in cremation? 


...

Sorry Bro, I just checked my calendar - I'm busy that day ...


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