We all have different ways of looking at the world. The ‘glass half full’ cliché is a familiar and simplistic way to convey the contrast between optimism and pessimism. Of course it’s a little more complex than that in real life, but it does touch upon how people can perceive exactly the same situation in completely different ways.
Being optimistic is an approach to life. It can be learned and developed.
Will you benefit from learning to be optimistic? Ask yourself these questions:
- Do you personally doubt the power of optimism?
- Do you associate it with the psychobabble of imported ’feel good no matter what ’just be positive’ type movements?
- Do you think this optimism movement may be more hype than helpful?
- Are you personally cynical about optimism as a psychological concept?
- Do you think it can only be employed when things are going well?
- Do you think it is counterproductive when things go wrong?
Marin Seligman, a leading theorist and researcher in this area identified four thought patterns that can lead to pessimistic thinking
- Permanence: “This always happens and always will.”
- Pervasive: “Nothing ever goes right.”
- Personal: “This always happens to me.”
- Powerlessness: “There is no real relationship between cause and effect; things just happened; I am the victim of what has occurred.”
These are significant patterns and it is worth considering if you can recognise any of these thought patterns in yourself. All of us can waver a little between optimistism and pessimism at times depending upon the situation or challenge. But if our default position is optimism then we can avoid the trap of helplessness which is a feature of pessimism.
Optimism is like a sticky substance to which other positive attributes, such as positive appraisal, effective coping, goal setting, adhere to.
Susan Lindsay 