How Not to Get Sick (Even if Everyone Else Is)

What's the smartest way to avoid the cold that's going around your office faster than the gossip about what the boss did last Friday night? (And with whom.) Do some emotional housekeeping by tossing your negativity. Cold viruses have a harder time taking hold in people who have a positive outlook.

When it comes to emotions, most people are aware of how anger or stress can wreck health (think of the bully executive who works his or her way to a heart attack). But positive thoughts and empathy have an impressive role in your health and immunity, too. Not only can upbeat thinking help you steer clear of colds, but it can also make your colds milder if you do get sick. This, and washing your hands frequently, is almost as good as your mom's chicken soup (Mom's soup is still tops at shortening a cold if you get one).

While emotional chicken soup is useful, you need to supplement positive thoughts with solid, cold-killing habits. Follow these sniffle-stopping tips:

• Wash your hands frequently, especially if you spend time with people who are sick. Keep their hand towels separate to minimize the spread of germs.
• Avoid spending time with people who are newly sick; they are most infectious during the first few days of illness.
• Avoid touching your nose, mouth, or eyes.
• Get plenty of rest.
• Help other people stay healthy by washing your hands after you blow your nose, and cover your mouth with a tissue or the inner crook of your elbow when you sneeze. Because, let's face it, what goes around comes around -- sooner or later.