Optimism means looking on the bright side of things, being hopeful about the future, and believing in your ability to succeed and solve problems. Optimists are people who tend to say "yes" to life rather than "no". They try to put a positive spin on things that happen, seeing a good side even to painful experiences. They are able to find some meaning in the things that happen to them, and they do not give up easily, because they believe that persistence usually pays off.
Pessimists, on the other hand, are people who see the negative in situations and give up easily because they think that "nothing works". They believe that things happen for no reason and there's nothing much you can do about it.
Which sounds more like you?
Being optimistic has many benefits. Optimists tend to be:
Why is this? Firstly, thinking negatively all the time tends to make you feel bad too. This negative emotional state can create stress which can affect your health. Your attitude makes you less pleasant to be around, so you have fewer friends. And because you don't really try hard at anything because "what's the point?", you are less likely to succeed than people who believe in themselves and back their luck.
We see what we expect to see. If you always tell yourself that everything is awful and have low expectations of yourself and of the world, then you'll tend to see the evidence to support your beliefs. But if, on the other hand, you see the good in things, then you're more likely to have the positive experiences (popularity, success, etc) that you expect.
Has anyone ever said to you, "Don't expect anything and you'll never be disappointed"? Sometimes when you have been through a big disappointment, you want to protect ourselves against it happening to you again. So you try never to get your hopes up. Maybe you even stop trying to achieve things, so that you won't be let down. Unfortunately, this strategy doesn't work very well. Never trying at anything just means you never achieve anything, and what's so great about that? It may be wise to be realistic and prepare for the possibility of disappointment in situations where there is a risk of being let down. But never hoping for anything won't protect you from failure and disappointment. In fact, it's more likely to result in it.
Take a look at the life of any successful person, and you will see that there were many failures, mistakes and disappointments on the road to success. Without faith and optimism, they would never have got where they did.
Read about how to learn optimistic thinking here.
