There's been a lot said about positive thinking, that it can not only reduce stress but can also bring miracles and help people overcome cancer and other medical and non-medical setbacks.

I'm not just saying this, science is now proving that positive thinking, your overall attitude and how you see the world has a direct impact on your life. The kind of positive thinking that results from being optimistic helps you manage stress better, improves your health and allows you to overcome many setbacks quickly and easily. The negative thinking that comes from being pessimistic doesn't help you cope with stress and will likely create more of that stress. If you think you're the pessimistic type, don't worry, you can turn things around - here's how

Positive thinking is about seeing the positive situation in your life and in the world. That doesn't mean you ignore negative events and don't prepare for the future. It's not about thinking that everything is going to be wonderful and no harm will ever come to you.

You have to be realistic and learn from past events that didn't work out for you.

Positive thinking means that you focus on finding solutions, approach those negative events a little differently and focus on having the best work out for you instead of always looking at the worst. You want to aim to see the glass as half full and not half empty.

So when you encounter unpleasant situations, you approach them differently and deal with them in a more productive and positive way.

Positive thinking starts with your thoughts and your personal self-talk. These are the endless words and thoughts that you say to yourself throughout the day. These thoughts and words seem automatic. Some come from applying logic and reason, while others come from your perceptions, judgements, and interpretations based on a lack of information. It's this kind of self talk that is often negative and creates some serious damage and lead to more stress.

When you have more negative thoughts than positive thoughts then your outlook on life is likely to be pessimistic and you'll end up in more negative situations. You'll have more struggle and pain.

If your thoughts are positive, then you're most likely an optimist and you probably practice positive thinking daily. You'll enjoy life more and won't have as much stress to deal wtih.

Over the past 20 years scientists, researches and Doctors have been citing the benefits of positive thinking. While most of these benefits help with your health, positive thinking can also help improve many areas of your life.

Let's take a look at how positive thinking can help with your health, and these benefits have been cited by many in the medical field:

• Lower levels of stress
• Stronger Immune systems
• Easily able to recover from surgery and other medical setbacks
• Longer life span
• More prone to be happy
• Less likely to be depressed
• Stronger hearts and reduce risks of heart disease
• Better able to overcome setbacks in life
• Better mental ability
• Overall better physical health

There's no clear explanation for why people who practice positive thinking enjoy the above benefits but researchers feel that having a positive outlook just helps you better cope with things and focus on solutions instead of magnifying problems. They're just better able to manage stress and setbacks than those who are more pessimistic. Also, people who are optimistic are usually more active physically and as a result, will tend to be healthier and live longer. They also tend to eat better, avoid alcohol, sugars and are non-smokers, all of which helps them enjoy better health.

Negative thinking and negative self-talk can really make life miserable. Most people don't even realize how much negative self-talk they have. Here are some common examples of negative self-talk:

• Thinking of the worst: When ever something happens or if you're planning something or getting ready to make a change, complete a project, go out, etc. you automatically think of the worst. Something as simple as running into a little traffic makes you think that the worse is going to happen, that your boss will fire you for being late or that you'll have a miserable day

• Magnifying: You magnify the worst and overlook or ignore the positive in situations. For example: you get a project completed at work on time, your boss pats you on the back and your colleagues compliment you. You get some feedback and someone suggests something that could have been slightly better. Instead of appreciating all the positive comments you recieved, you focus on the one little thing that didn't go so well and that's all you think about the rest of the day and evening

• Take everything personally: When something goes wrong or doesn't work out you take it personally and you blame yourself for it, even if someone acknowledges that it wasn't your fault. For example: You're meeting a friend for dinner and they have to re-schedule. Instead of just re-scheduling and moving on, you think they changed the time and/or place because they didn't want to see you. Or if you're with friends and the waiter gets the dishes wrong, you think it's your fault because you changed what you ordered

• It's either black or white: There's no grey area, things are either one way or another. They're either good or bad (and you see most as bad), they're black or white. There's no middle ground. You have to have everything perfect or it's no use

These kinds of negative self-talk and negative thinking don't allow you to enjoy life, and they create more stress which has a negative impact on your health. You need to change this kind of negative self-talk to positive self-talk.

The sooner you turn negative thinking into positive thinking, the better and it's a lot easier to do than you think, it just takes some time, and practice. After all, you're changing they way you think and creating a new habit - which takes time. Here are some things that you can do to be more positive and optimistic:

• Find the thoughts that need to change: If you want to be more optimisitic and engage in positive thinking you first need to find out where you are most negative, and identify the negative thought patterns that need to be changed. For example: you might be negative at work, so track your thoughts, identify the negative thoughts and replace them with positive thoughts. Start with one area and work on replacing those negative thoughts every day. Then move on to another area and so on

• Laugh and have fun: Laugh at yourself and try to laugh at other things as much as you can. Laughter will reduce the stress and help eliminate the negativity. Find humor in things, even when they don't work out the way you want. You can either laugh or cry, choose to laugh. Do something you enjoy just for the fun of it - it will make the day much more pleasant

• Eat Better, Be Healthy: Choose to eat healthy foods and exercise regularly. The mind and body are connected. A health body leads to a health mind which leads to less stress and a better quality of life

• Randomly Track your Thoughts: throughout the day catch yourself thinking. Ask yourself if your thoughts are positive or negative. If you're having some negative thoughts, change them to positive thoughts. This kind of habit leads to positive thinking sooner

• Practice Positive Self Talk: Choose to speak positive words to yourself and choose to have positive thoughts. Start slowly, and be kind to yourself. Use gentle words and when you find yourself saying something negative, change it to something positive. Try working with affirmations when done correctly this can help develop the kind of positive thinking you want

• Choose Positive People: Surround yourself with positive people. If you've been negative for a while, you'll find that you have a lot of negative people around you. So start surrounding yourself with positive people. They'll help you stay positive and give you the kind of advice that will help you in life. Negative people don't help you and will make life more difficulty or increase your stress levels.

Here are some examples of negative self-talk, negative thoughts and how you can apply positive thinking to them

To get better at positive thinking you have to practice every day. If you have a lot of negative thoughts and if you're pessimistic you can develop positive thinking and the kind of optimism that leads to a better life, it's just going to take some time and practice, so be patient.

As you practice positive thinking daily, you won't be so negative, you won't be so hard on yourself, and you'll see your self-talk go from negative to positive. You'll also find your stress levels dropping and you'll be able to cope with challenges much better. You'll also see the world as a better place. Your new positive attitude will improve your mood and also help those around you be more positive.

You'll have a more positive outlook and you'll be able to handle stress better which will lead to better overall health, which is one of the most powerful benefits of positive thinking.