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In the battle against sickle cell disease, it's important for every warrior to arm themselves with all available methods that can help them win their fight and live long, healthy, happy, lives. Not only does this include experienced hospital staff and innovative treatments, supplements, and medications, but also continuous doses of positive thinking.

Now, we're not trying to say that positive thinking is some magical panacea (that, it is not), but research shows that a positive attitude can have wonderful effects on your overall health and wellness. For one thing, having a more positive outlook means that you can handle stress well, which in turn, allows you to tackle anything SCD may throw your way with strength and hope, rather than fear. According to the Mayo Clinic, "Positive thinking doesn't mean that you keep your head in the sand and ignore life's less pleasant situations. Positive thinking just means that you approach unpleasantness in a more positive and productive way. You think the best is going to happen, not the worst."

Thinking that this is much easier said than done? If you're usually prone to more of the glass-half-empty-type outlook, yes, retraining your thinking can be difficult, but like everything, it's a choice you can make that will only prove to benefit you. Just how can you start implementing more positivity in your life? It's simple! Check out the list below and try a few to see which methods work best for you and your personality:

1) Meditate on the regular. Meditation can help instill a sense of calmness and peace throughout your mind and body, thus reducing stress and potentially helping to lessen other symptoms of illness that can be triggered by stress. Want to get started? Check out meditation guru, Gabrielle Bernstein, who makes meditation easy and fun.

2) Start a gratitude journal. We're pulling a page from Oprah's book here, and encouraging you to focus on all the positive things that go on in your daily life, rather than some things that may go wrong. For example, instead of dwelling on the fact that your to-do list is pages long, celebrate the fact that you didn't have a crisis on that day and record that positivity in your journal.

3) Look for inspiration everywhere. Whether it's listening to an uplifting testimony at church, reciting (and believing) your written affirmations, or scouring Pinterest boards for inspirational quotes, make sure you deliberately seek out and find positive aspects of life each and every day.

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