Chapter 5
Step 3: Think Positive – You Can Reverse the Aging Process
Think of the glass of life as half full instead of half empty! – Jack LaLanne
Never underestimate the power of positive thinking. If you think you can, you can. If you think you can't, you can't – and you won't! Whether you're focusing on nutrition or exercise, saving or investing, living a full life or a mediocre one, your attitude often determines your outcome. Thinking positive and thinking young is an investment in your health. If you think you're old, you are old. If you think young, studies show that you're improving your chances of a longer life – by nearly a decade, in fact.
Instead of moping around, dwelling on how old you are, bemoaning those aches and pains, fretting about the things you can no longer do, why not channel that energy into thinking about how young you are and how much life is still yours to live? Envision the great experiences yet in store for you. Visualization is one of the first steps toward creating a new reality. Positive thinking and visualization can revitalize and rejuvenate you instead of enervating and draining you. Don't be surprised if you retard or even reverse the effects of the aging process too, as you enjoy life more and discover a new vibrancy. After all, the glass is half full, not half empty!
Remember that "use-ta" person we talked about earlier, that person who always laments that he or she used to be able to do this and that? With the guidance of this book, you are increasing your chances of becoming a physically and fiscally fit "I can" person instead of a "use-ta" one.
Mental Commitment
Arnie, the widower we talked about in the last chapter, was wasting away mentally and physically, in large part because he had quit thinking positively. After his wife died, Arnie focused on how old he was, how worn out he felt, and how he just didn't have the energy to do anything anymore. But then he received a wake-up call courtesy of The Jack LaLanne Show reruns on late-night TV. The show motivated him to try a little exercise, which made him feel a little better. So he discovered the joy of feeling better through exercise, his body and his attitude changed. He recognized that we're all capable of achieving better health, no matter our age. With a renewed and vigorous can–do attitude, Arnie reversed his debilitation downward aging spiral.