Picture this:
It has been three days since you left a voicemail message asking your friend to call you, and you haven’t heard a word. You reject the notion that she doesn’t like you any more, and choose to believe she must be really busy with important and exciting things.
Well hey, congratulations! You chose optimism over pessimism, and willprobably live longer for it.
Optimism has been shown to improve the quality of life (yours and those around you), and several studies have linked optimism with longevity. In fact, a recently concluded 10-year study showed that pessimistic men were twice as likely to experience angina and heart attack as optimistic men. Twice! And that’s independent of all other health-related factors.
Optimists often have more friends. Think about it. Would you rather hang out with a doom-and-gloomer or party-pooper, or with someone whoalways sees the opportunity and potential in life’s circumstances? That’s why optimists tend to get hired before pessimists.
While some people naturally view the glass as half-full, optimism turns out to be a learned behavior. You can choose an optimistic response to the events that come your way.
The question is, to be or not to be? To turn oneself into an optimist is to be able to change one's viewpoint from the glass appearing as half-empty, to half-full. Its definitely a matter of making the right choice, whether to mope around when that friend didn't ring back, or to just shrug off that negative thought and have fun with your other friends who are already by your side. (And then who knows, you finally got that call you've been waiting.)
So, how optimistic are you? Would you bet your life on it? d','b
