“Always in a hurry, but never on time. So busy that there is no time to remember who he is and where. So gloomy that the smile of a passer-by rather irritates him than pleases him.” This can describe 80% of the population of our country. Optimism went out of fashion along with good nature. People are so immersed in their own problems that they have no time to look around, distract themselves from the negativity, and see the beauty of the world around them. Is it possible to improve the situation? How to develop optimism and restore faith in the good?
What are we missing in life?
Why do we live? Surely not in order to devote all your time to work, solving some problems, or everyday issues. Our goal is to live a productive, interesting, colorful life with optimism. And there are all conditions for this.
By refusing positive thinking, we deprive ourselves of a lot. This is how we set a bad example for our children, friends, and acquaintances. And this is also the highest degree of ingratitude for the life given to us. Yes, it can be difficult. But a person can be strong, learn to smile, and charge other people with positivity.
Pessimism, unlike optimism, is the attitude of someone who has given up. Don't miss a single day to do something good, lift someone's spirits, be optimistic.
Emotional background scale
Let's look at the reasons for the lack of optimism. Pessimists are people broken by circumstances. They give a negative assessment of life and do not even try to change it. It’s as if they are slaves who have no rights or freedoms. However, in modern society, everyone is the master of their own life and can change it at any moment.
The mechanism for the development of pessimism looks like this. A person is born an optimist, lives, enjoys life until a negative circumstance appears that traumatizes him. If we are talking about a sanguine person, most likely he will cope with the situation and will live on with his characteristic optimism. But if a melancholic or choleric person gets into trouble, his emotional scale will first go towards strong feelings, and then apathy will set in. Everyone has their own experiences and emotions in life, the only difference is how people deal with them. For some, a broken nail is enough to cause depression, while others experienced a real tragedy and did not break.
To break in this case means to lose optimism, to become a pessimist. These are people who are emotionally broken, who no longer accept positive emotions, and find negativity in everything. They prefer not to fly so that they don’t have to fall later. The transition from joy to sadness for them is like falling from a height. They don't allow themselves to become optimistic. And over time they simply lose this ability.
False optimism
Wanting to return the wings of optimism, the joy of life, a person can already consider himself a daredevil. He is strong for deciding to change. But just a smile is not enough. This is not optimism. True joy comes with setting the right priorities. What is important? So that the weather matches your mood and the suit fits? No, these are little things. Let it rain, let the tights tear. All this is insignificant. The rain will pass, but the tights - initially it was clear that they would not last forever. Go to a cafe, order your favorite coffee. And then go shopping. This is what optimism looks like.
Optimism is a perception. This is not a forced smile, but the ability to see good even in bad.
Don't give up on your goals because of obstacles
Optimists, like all successful people, approach tasks creatively and do not give up in case of trouble. They know that they will never have everything they need, so they make do with what they have at the moment.
Steve Jobs didn't panic when he didn't have enough money to start a business: he sold his only vehicle, the VW Microbus.
Walt Disney was not depressed when he was told that Mickey Mouse was “a giant mouse that only scared women.” He promoted his project and look at the attitude Mickey is receiving today.
Donald Trump went bankrupt four times (1991, 1992, 2004 and 2009) and each time his ingenuity helped him rise again. Back in 2011, his fortune was estimated at $2.9 billion.
Restructuring your thinking
The key to healthy optimism lies in setting goals and going towards them with the understanding that everything in life is relative.
How a pessimist thinks.
- “My colleague’s dress is better. I look worse - it’s terrible.”
- “It’s bad weather outside again. I’ll catch a cold again.” (And he will definitely pick it up. Thoughts are material).
- “We increased the salary. Now they will throw on responsibilities. And not such a big increase. Still not enough to save for the sea.”
How an optimist thinks.
- “My colleague looks great today. You need to compliment her. It will bring joy to both of us."
- “There was a storm outside the window. It’s so cozy to be indoors at such moments. We’ll stay at home in the evening, light candles, and talk with my wife about all sorts of little things.”
- “The salary has been increased. I’ll mark this day in red on the calendar and buy wine. You can invite your friends in the evening. We haven't sat this well in a long time. This is the reason."
Every situation in life has two sides. An optimist focuses on the good. A pessimist sees only the bad. The transition from negative to positive lies through the passage of an intermediate link: realism. First, understand that you can be upset endlessly. Look at the situation from a broader perspective. You will notice the pros and cons. Concentrate on the positive. This is the only way you can develop optimism in yourself.
RULE No. 2. Self-irony, not self-examination!
Self-flagellation is a bad helper, which takes a colossal amount of energy, depleting you mentally and physically. And most importantly, it does not bring us one step closer to solving problems. The critic that appears in our head during difficult moments in life can tirelessly scold us for the mistakes we have made, pushing us into a state of depression. Self-irony in such situations has a valuable psychotherapeutic resource, eliminating destructive moods. By looking at a situation that we perceive as negative from a different angle, we can sometimes find some humor in it. If you managed to smile or laugh, then this is a sure sign that you are not in a good mood with a depressive mood, which means that you will certainly be able to cope with your existing problems. Therefore, it is quite natural that most optimists have a sense of humor and self-irony.
How to find harmony
Understand that the concepts of “good” and “bad” are subjective. They don't exist. Accept what is happening as it is. Don't think about how it could be. Comparing reality with fantasy always leads to a pessimistic assessment. How to develop optimism and become an optimist? Advice from psychologists boils down to finding harmony:
- Remember who you are and where you are. State your name.
- Briefly recall your past life.
- Appreciate the present.
- Think about the future.
Could it be better? Yes. Could it have been worse? It could have been a lot worse. Events just happen. And you, as before, have this life, the opportunity to manage it.
Accept what has already happened. Please accept with gratitude. Harmony begins with humility. Be optimistic.
To come into harmony with yourself and the world around you, and develop healthy optimism, try these techniques:
- Watch less TV.
- Limit your visits to the Internet to once a day.
- Meditate twice a day for 2 minutes. First, learn to focus on your breathing. Turn off your thoughts, concentrate on how the air leaves your lungs and fills them.
And further. Think about the present. An optimist will not return to the past over and over again.
A little about pessimism and optimism
Before research, pessimism and optimism existed as philosophical concepts. Among the prominent representatives of the philosophy of pessimism are Hartmann and Schopenhauer; according to them, the world is not just bad, but even hopeless. Pessimists often discuss the meaning of life. What is the point of birth if life ends in death anyway? Why is the world filled with evil and suffering?
As a rule, as a result of such discussions, pessimists come to the conclusion that the world is inherently vicious, and humanity is unable to change anything and will never change anything. However, most people with such views are no different from others; they also create families and go to work.
Despite such popular “pessimistic” ideas, optimism also has well-known representatives. As a rule, in philosophy, a positive worldview is associated with Gottfried Leibniz, who believes that humanity lives in the best of all worlds.
A little humor: there are two children in the family: an optimist and a pessimist. For the New Year, their parents prepared gifts for them: a toy horse on wheels for the pessimist, and a pile of fresh horse manure for the optimist. The children woke up in the morning... Pessimist: “Well, the horse... uh... small, but I wanted a big one... completely white... and I wanted apples... uh... wooden, but I wanted a live one...” Optimist: “But I have alive!!! I just went out for a walk!”
The best self-control exercises to become a little more optimistic
By developing the ability to concentrate on the positive, learn to be an optimist in everything. Stop yourself from thinking about bad things. It's a whole new world: you'll feel like you've opened the curtains and let the sun in.
- Develop a negative attitude towards bad thoughts. Every time negativity appears, force yourself to squat or snap your hand with a money rubber band.
- If you are overwhelmed by negativity, anxiety, apathy, self-pity, change your facial expression. Move your cheek muscles, make different grimaces. This will change your inner state.
- Helps remove the negative “dog breath”. Remember how dogs that have been running for a long time breathe. Quickly, often, superficially. Open your mouth and breathe in the same way for about a minute. Emotions will leave you.
- Smile at at least three people every day.
- Read books daily. Make a list of the ones you want to read.
- Exercise every day. Sport helps produce joy hormones.
- Get a cat. If it’s very busy, you can have some fish. But better than a cat. This is a living creature that can entertain and distract from heavy thoughts. The cat will make you happy - these animals take away negativity, relieve stress, and heal. These are scientifically proven facts. By receiving additional positive emotions, you will quickly develop optimism.
- Call your friends, family. Every day, choose someone to talk to. Do not correspond, but talk, meet. Choose live communication.
- Keep a success notebook. Write down everything that made you proud of yourself since childhood.
- Watch films that motivate, charge with optimism, and inspire. Lists are available on the Internet.
- Keep a wish notebook. Write down everything you want there. Think over ways to implement each point, go towards your goals.
- Walk outdoors every day.
- Take photographs of the city streets, yourself, and friends.
- Forgive everyone who has hurt you in the past. I'm truly sorry. Try to understand and don't get angry anymore.
A contrast shower will also help get rid of bad thoughts. Take it if there are no health contraindications.
Reasons for pessimism
Scientists have been trying to understand personality traits and the impact of optimism on health for hundreds of years. Thus, according to recent research, the two main reasons for the formation of optimistic and pessimistic worldviews are:
- Genetic predisposition.
- Upbringing. As a rule, pessimistic views prevail in the family; parents never praise the child and constantly predict his failures in all fields.
Read more: How to learn not to be afraid of anything
The experiment, conducted by London professor Tim Spector, involved identical twins. The girls grew up in the same family and in the same environment, however, one of them is cheerful and cheerful, and the second regularly experiences depressive episodes.
The professor’s goal was to answer the key question: what factors actually influence the formation of human personality and how this can be influenced. Spector was able to discover a specific set of genes that function in one girl, but are inactive in another. It turned out that only half of the differences between people are due to genetics. At the same time, external factors can activate or, conversely, weaken specific genes. The name of this process is epiginetics.
How to become an optimist and how to improve your mood if you are a pessimist: advice from a psychologist
Most often, focusing on the negative is an innate quality. All 4 types of temperament are present in a person to varying degrees. Among pessimists, the melancholic type is dominant. Temperament determines a person's reaction to everything that happens. For melancholic people it is sadness and tears. Almost everything upsets a person. It cannot be remade. But you can learn to cope with the first reaction and switch quickly.
The instructions for developing optimism are still the same: work on yourself, follow the advice described above. Whatever the initial settings, man is a self-determining creature. You wake up in the morning and the day lies in the palm of your hand. What colors you paint it in is up to you.
RULE No. 7. Give it to yourself!
Words of approval, signs of attention, gifts and surprises are what improve your mood. And sometimes there are periods in life when such things are sorely lacking. However, for a true optimist this is not such a problem. What prevents a person from pleasing himself and fulfilling some of his cherished desires? For example, at the end of a hard working day, treat yourself to a cup of freshly brewed coffee in a cozy cafe? Or buy something that you have dreamed of for so long, timing your desired purchase, for example, to coincide with the completion of an important and responsible project? There is a considerable amount of truth in the catchphrase that we are treated the same way we treat ourselves. Therefore, you should not complain that no one loves you and is in no hurry to do something good for you. It's better to think about how you can take care of yourself and lift your mood. Everything is in our hands, and it’s just wonderful!
