Your outlook towards life has a very massive impact on your future course of action. Is your glass-half-empty or half-full? The answer to the question defines whether you have an optimistic or a pessimistic perspective towards life. Every person faces ups and downs in one's life, but if one has a positive outlook, then it surely can help one to improve the quality of life, even physical and mental well-being.
Optimism acts as a decisive factor in managing stress. Being optimist does not mean that a person ignores the challenges in life, but it means changing the ways you approach them. Maintaining a positive outlook helps in being more patient in a difficult situation. An optimist is more likely to take the most suitable action in a stressful situation.
Studies suggest that seeing the glass half-full leads to the betterment and a satisfied life. Optimists tend to anticipate the best and the most suitable outcomes no matter how difficult a situation is. Being optimistic is also good for career, health and love life. Several studies predict that an optimistic person has much lower rates of cardiovascular diseases, cancer, and mortality. Positive thoughts also lead to a better immune system. Elderly people who have a positive outlook towards life tend to recover better from illness and disability as compared to the ones who think negatively. Psychologists suggest that optimists are healthier because they do not attribute much significance to challenging situations. Moreover, they recover better in cases when they can't meet their goals due to their positive nature. Optimists also have a better chance of getting a stellar job, fulfilling relationships, growth in career, and more.
How To Be Optimistic In Life?
#1. Embrace Your Emotions
Often people confuse optimism with being 'happy' all the time. They forget that it is not possible to be happy in every situation in life. One can never feel jovial when facing a traumatic experience. In fact, trying to force happiness while going through a struggling phase can be very unhealthy for a person. Instead of trying to force happiness on yourself, what you can do for your best is to attune yourself with all the emotions in your life, be it positive and negative. This is what optimism is; embracing the full range of emotions and accepting them as a natural part of human experience. Repressed emotions always come out, sometimes in more severe forms. Therefore, trying to suppress your emotions is never a good idea. Instead one should always be more adaptive and proactive in such situations. Embrace all your emotions, no matter how severe they are. Think of the fact that everything is temporary. A bad phase does not last forever, and this will help you to be more positive and resilient in uncertain situations if you ever come across them in future.
#2. Avoid Negative Feelings
Some people often say things like, "Life is horrible.," "Life is unfair." etc. They believe that negative thoughts are inevitable without realizing that by saying negative things all the time they are conditioning their brain to be negative. Uttering negative things can become a habit over time. As a result, one starts blaming oneself or others for all that is wrong in one's life. There is no good in playing the blame games. It is not going to take you anywhere. In fact, it can hinder your growth and development to a great extent. One should invest energy in becoming mindful whenever negative thoughts nurture. You can adopt simple techniques such as writing your thoughts whenever negative feelings garner in your mind. This will help you to understand your situation more objectively and look for alternatives to solve the problem. Mostly, we tend to respond in a haste whenever some situation arises which causes stress. Sometimes, in situations as trivial as getting stuck in traffic takes a toll on our mind and we yell, honk and get irritated unnecessarily. It is very much a possibility that after some time we may feel sorry for the way we behaved. Judging yourself for, if you did 'right' or 'wrong' will be of no help. Instead of this, pen down your emotions and get over negativity.
#3. Practice Mindfulness
The ability to acknowledge your emotions at the moment without judging them is called mindfulness. Negative emotions arise because of our struggle against them. Sometimes we become so blinded by our emotions that we fail to realize the fact that we have the ability to control the way we respond when overpowered by negativity. It is very important to practice mindfulness if you wish to avoid negativity. Take a deep breath, focus on your emotions and let them out. Accept all your feelings and emotions. This will help you to get comfortable with them and accept the situation positively. If you face difficulty in practicing mindfulness, then you can also try to take out some time for meditation. It will give you an opportunity to come closer to self, feel deeply and positively.
#4. Try To Keep Your Inner Monologue Positive
If you wish to figure out if you are naturally optimistic or pessimistic, then you can consider listening to your inner monologue. Pay attention to all that you speak to yourself consciously or unconsciously and then figure out if there are any forms of negative self-talk. Pessimistic people often have a habit of magnifying the negative aspects of a situation. They tend to ignore the positive aspects and start believing that their life is horrible and they always have to undergo negative situations. They forget that they are the ones who are harboring negativity in their life. If you will put negative thoughts in your life, then there is no way to get positive outcomes. Practice a positive monologue. Start your day by saying positive things about yourself and make it a habit. You will be surprised to see the amount of happiness this practice can bring in your life.
#5. Avoid Comparisons
Can there be anything easier than peeping into other's lives, comparing yours with them and then feeling the pangs of jealousy drifting your heart apart? "She is more beautiful than me.", " He is blessed with everything in his life.", these kind of statements are not going to take you anywhere other than blocking the road of self-satisfaction and bliss. Avoid comparing yourself with others. This can bring a lot of stress and anxiety in your life. Instead of this focus on the positivities of other people. If you choose to focus on the positive elements in your life, then you would be able to take control of it and make it better phenomenally. Moreover, there isn't any good in thinking about what other people have. It hardly matters after all. Focus on self, and aim for an optimistic life.
#6. Adopt A Healthy Lifestyle
To be positive, it is very important to adopt a healthy lifestyle. You can think well only if you eat nutritious food and are charged enough to get over the negativity that comes to your life. One should always adopt a healthy lifestyle to let go all the negativities that come your way. If you feel highly pessimistic, then you can try to change your daily routine. Wake up early in the morning, drink as much water as you can and eat good food. One should also try to take out some time for exercising. It will help you to channelize your energy in a positive direction. It will also help you to stay charged to garner good thoughts.
Are you an optimist or a pessimist? Share your feelings/ thoughts with us. Do comment in the comment box below if you like this article. We look forward to your replies.
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