Being frugal is good for you and for your health? Who would’ve thought it?

“The majority of middle class Americans say they are healthier because of frugal behaviors.” (The New York Times, May 29, 2010)

Seems that pinching pennies means more meals prepared at home (45%), less money spent on junk food (30%), walking or biking more (13%), even spending less on alcohol (10%).

It is common for people undergoing adversity to report that they are positively changed by the experience.

This does not mean that adversity is a good thing or that harm does not occur. Rather, it means that our response intensely impacts our experience, and our ability to choose our response can lead to great blessings.

There is always a silver lining! When you have an optimistic belief system that there always are benefits within every trial and tribulation you tend to go looking for the gift in the adversity, and having looked you tend to find (or create) that for which you look. It can be a wonderful self-reinforcing prophecy, an upward virtuous cycle.

Within the psychology of stress and coping theories, this benefit-finding approach is known as a “positive cognitive adaptation to threat.” I call it knowing deep within you that when one door closes, another door opens if we but have the courage to release and search.

It is important to be open. Sometimes it is a window that opens but we should not be overly picky about the form our deliverance takes! (It could be a skylight. Be open to experience!)

Closing quote: “Every adversity carries with it the seed of an equivalent or greater benefit.”  — Napoleon Hill