What you say about negative thoughts is so true.

This is a side note...subtopic to yours.

I used to teach a class about stress reduction. I enjoy using this in my own life. I try to be aware of five physical changes that stress does to my body, which are completely in my control to reverse. When I am aware of what stress is doing to me physically, I can choose the opposite physical action. The link is just as strong both directions, so I can reduce my stress.

Here are two simple examples:

1. Negative thinking affects our facial expressions and tone of voice, which alters how others will treat us, which determines much of our reality. If stress makes us frown, we can choose the opposite...to smile. If we hear a sharp tone in our voice, we can choose a kind one. I used to sugggest the employees put a mirror on the desk and look into it while speaking with frustrating customers. They said it helped. For fun, when my kids were fighting, I used to ask them to sing whatever they were saying. They always ended up laughing, instead.

2. Also, stress causes us to breathe in a shallow way, which is linked to our sympathetic (fight-or-flight) nervous system. DIaghram breathing is linked to the parasympathetic nervous system, which when engaged, gives us feelings of well-being, love, abundance, etc. It is hard to be in fight-or-flight mode and abundant mode at the same time. Luckily, we hold the key...diaphragmatic breathing. Unless our threat is a true physical one (like being chased by a bear), it is our choice which system we are utilizing.