What It Takes To Be An Optimist
A quick look at the word optimistic suggest it has ties to the word optimize. As we know that word means, “to make
as effective, perfect, or useful as possible, or to make the best of.”
While we focus on it more today than in the past, it isn’t a new idea. It’s been around since 1857. Since that time, people have known how to make the most of the situation they are in.
With that in mind, we understand that becoming an optimist is a very real possibility.
When a challenge comes across our path, we may begin to think negatively about the situation. But if we look at the bright side, and take an optimistic approach to it, we understand it is all in our head. With positive thinking, we can boost our mental and physical health and even find happiness.
The Power of Positive: The Need-to-Know to Be An Optimist
An optimistic thinker is one who can anticipate what the best outcome is in a situation. When they have an accident, they instantly think it is fortunate they have insurance. They focus on the good in life. This is good for their health, love, and career. In fact, an optimist will find that they have a lower mortality rate, cancer risk is down, and they even have better cardiovascular health. With all these benefits of positive thinking, being an optimist isn’t all that bad. Instead, it could mean the difference between a short and miserable life, or being a person who can succeed and ultimately find all the rewards and blessings they are given in this life. After all, each of us will have experiences with both the bad and the good, it is how we focus on things that determine how we view our lives.
Even when they cannot reach their goals, it is believed the optimist still copes better than others. That means there is less stress they deal with and there isn’t as much strain on them.
Don’t think the benefit of being an optimist ends there. On the contrary, these individuals tend to have long, stable relationships. They also have a better connection with their job and they have an all-around better life than the person who only views the doom and gloom that surrounds them.
Every Little Thing Is Gonna Be All Right: Your Action Plan
There are two different views on being an optimist. One school of thought is that anyone can become an optimist. It only requires a person to change their way of thinking. The other is that being an optimist is a personality trait that some people are simply born with. Then other things like socioeconomic status, culture, and other factors can impact just how strong our level of optimism is. Cultural differences also may play a factor as Western cultures traditionally anticipate more positive effects and view themselves in a more positive fashion than the Eastern cultures.
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Before you go all gangbusters and become an over the top optimist, you might want to reconsider. Just like having a positive view on things can be good, too much positivity makes you focus on extremes and you constantly have failed expectations. A degree of pessimism is actually a good thing. When you prepare for the worst and it happens, you reduce anxiety in the moment. When things turn out better than expected, you can enjoy the fact that things went your way and that you were concerned about nothing. Yes, it means to be a true optimist, you need to find balance, but it will ultimately be worth it.
It will take time to find the good, even in those situations where you are struggling to find it. But there is always something positive that is there. When you get lost, perhaps the world around you is still pretty. When you begin to think about the bigger picture, you’ll find that it all becomes clearer in the end. When you have your positive items, write them down. You can keep going over them and remind yourself of all the good that happened in your day. This allows you to be an optimist and to ultimately change how you view the things in your life.
Something to perhaps consider is that it isn’t the particular experience that determines your mood. Instead, it is how we talk about it and focus on it. It an exam hard, or is knowing that you tried your best and you did all you could do the better approach on it. There’s not need to be envious when others do better either. Instead, take comfort in knowing that you did all you can do and that you’re successful because you put your best out there and you earned whatever rewards were bestowed upon you.
Above all, remember that life isn’t going to be the best day ever, 24/7. There will always be ups and downs, but how you approach each situation will determine how you feel. When you remain realistic and understand the balance that is there, you are more likely to embrace it and reduce your anxiety, all while you boost just how productive you are. Remember, it’s all the lessons in life and the experiences you have that become a part of who you are, and how you react to them shows just what you’re made of in the end.
