The poet Hafiz said, “The words you speak become the house you live in.” Modern neuroscience tells us he was right.
The human brain is built for efficiency. It strengthens whatever paths we use most. Think a thought often enough, and your brain makes it easier to think it again. Over time, our thoughts become habits, and our habits become the way we move through the world. This is especially true with aging: research by Yale psychologist Becca Levy shows that people who hold more positive beliefs about aging live, on average, 7.5 years longer than those with negative beliefs—and they stay healthier along the way.¹
Think about it like paths in a field. The more often you walk one way, the clearer and easier that path becomes. Soon, it’s the default route. If the path is paved with hope, encouragement, and possibility, that’s the scenery you’ll live among. If it’s paved with fear or doubt, that’s what you’ll keep stumbling into.
Every word is a brick. Stack enough words of hope and gratitude, and you raise walls that feel warm and protective. Stack words of bitterness or fear, and you’ll find yourself walled into a narrow, drafty room.
This is not about “positive thinking” in the shallow sense. It’s about noticing what you rehearse in your mind most often. Because what we think about most, we bring about.
Try this: pay attention this week to the words you speak out loud and the words you whisper to yourself. Ask yourself, are these the thoughts I want to use to build my house? And if not—imagine the one you’d rather build. What would it look like if the walls were made of encouragement, the windows of gratitude, the doors of possibility? Even a small change in the bricks you choose reshapes the whole structure.
Until next time, be well dear reader.
¹ Levy, B. R., Slade, M. D., Kunkel, S. R., & Kasl, S. V. (2002). Longevity increased by positive self-perceptions of aging.Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 83(2), 261–270.