I watched a movie years ago that made fun of one of the main characters’ unrealistic and flighty viewpoint in the following song lyrics:
“Be optimistic,
Don’t be a grumpy,
When the world gets lumpy
Just smile, smile, smile and be happy…”
Of course, this was not done in a flattering way. Adele August, played by Susan Sarandon, never acknowledged what was really going on in her life, choosing to only pay attention to the things that she liked instead.
Some people view any optimistic viewpoint in this same light. I’ve heard it said that an optimistic viewpoint means that you aren’t paying enough attention, or that you are not facing the real facts.
However, I do not believe that this pessimistic “gloom and doom” viewpoint is any less skewed. It has long been one of my mottoes that at any moment, any of us can look around at our life and find just as many things to be happy about and grateful for as the opposite. Our outlook, mood, and level of happiness simply depends on what we choose to pay attention to.
Of course, this is not to say that bad news should not be paid attention to. Rather, it should immediately be dealt with so as not to hold a raincloud over our heads. Indeed, a Chinese study* released this month found that people react to daily stresses more effectively when they hold an optimistic world view. So if you choose to harp on that which you are happy and excited about rather than choosing to continually remind yourself of the bad things that could happen, it seems like when those bad things do happen every now and then, they are better handled.
It seems to me that those of us who believe that if we don’t always remind ourselves of the worst case scenarios in order to “be prepared” for them should try to take a more positive approach, for just the same reason.
Funnily enough, both optimists and pessimists believe that the future will be better than the present**. Optimists may simply see things as getting better and better over time, and pessimists may assume that since today is bad, tomorrow must be better.
The difference from here may be whether tomorrow actually does get better. Since today’s tomorrows inevitably become todays themselves, someone who sees their current environment as a more positive place may come out ahead after all.
With this in mind, try for the next few days to look at your current environment and spend more time thinking about the things you like than the things you don’t. What will you remember in the years to come? What will you miss?
(this article has been a weekly pick-me-up, courtesy of A Luminous Life)
**Busseri, M., Choma, B., Sadava, S. (2009). “As good as it gets” or “The best is yet to come”? How optimists and pessimists view their past, present, and anticipated future life satisfaction. Personality and Individual Differences, 47(4), 352-356.
Tags: a luminous life, charis brown, daily inspiration, optimism, pessimism, practice happiness
