Optimism is a mental attitude that interprets situations in a positive manner of thinking, where the best possible outcome will occur. An individual who always chooses to be optimistic or ‘to make lemonade out of lemons’ is going to have overall better physical and mental health than their neighbor who chooses to always disassociate their mood from circumstances. Researchers, including Martin Seligmen, have found that there are many advantages to those who choose to be optimistic over pessimistic. Some of the benefits of this sunnier side of thinking are:
- Superior physical and mental health
- Greater achievement of life/ career goals
- Persistence to always succeed
- Significant less stress
- Increased longevity/ life
Optimism is a way of life that can be learned and adopted by any individual that is willing to make appropriate changes by utilizing cognitive restructuring, which will help take those negative thought interpretations and redirect them to actively see a pattern of enhanced understanding. This transformation of thinking can be achieved by repeatedly taking a mental checklist of situations by the following:
- Identify the pessimistic thought: you must be aware of the negative thought in order to identify where a change can be made
- Examine the thought: you must have a good argument on whether you can dispute the thought
- Replace the negativism: you must be able to correct the thought with a more realistic outcome
The only way that optimism is going to be a successful, life altering direction for one’s life to take is if the individual can rationalize the reality of every situation. Our lives on Earth are short so why focus on the negative of every situation and why not focus on the positive and make it a goal for the overall greater good of your remaining lifetime to be the best possible you with all the learning experiences ahead. This is the time to ask yourself are you going to be a glass half empty or a glass half full kind of individual?!
