There is a simple, easy-to-understand classification that lists people depending on their expectations for the future: optimistic or pessimistic. Science has shown that optimistic people achieve more and live better. Therefore, the practice of optimism is advised. Keep reading.
Although it is known that life happens only in the present moment, it is difficult for human beings not to think about the future. Great therapists like George Kelly, have pointed out that the mind always operates projected towards tomorrow, towards the next moment, the next day or the next goal. We live in permanent mental anticipation and we take the experiences of the past to learn from them and avoid discomfort, mistakes and failures. In this quest to predict and control the future, we have two essential ways of approaching it: pessimism or optimism.
Pessimism is a state of mind that anticipates negative outcomes. Those who exercise pessimism as an attitude towards the future, believe that things are going to go wrong or that what they want cannot be achieved. And the repetition of that belief, that sense of helplessness, that weakness of hope in the face of everyday affairs, becomes a limiting way of living, and condemns its bearer to a mediocre and resigned life.
Pessimists have difficulty perceiving favorable situations and good opportunities, tend to be unproductive, function from routine, see life as a struggle, identify with failure and avoid taking risks because they fear being wrong. They attract negative experiences, are unpleasant to others, and almost always appear sad, scared, or angry. Also, they depend on external motivations, they are more rigid, fickle, impatient, critical, and almost never do what they really like. They confuse their negativity with realism, they are unaware of its power, they forget that every day is new, and that if they look for ways out they tend to find each other.
Optimism, on the other hand, is a mental scheme of positive expectations. The optimistic subject believes that what he wants can be achieved and that he must make mechanisms for it. Optimism derives from self-confidence and spiritual faith in a higher power that guides and protects us. Being optimistic is "hoping for the best. "
La práctica consciente de la actitud optimista, deriva en múltiples beneficios en la salud, las relaciones y la productividad. En la salud, la idea de que estaremos bien, o de que vamos a curarnos, hace que el cerebro responda favorablemente y produzca hormonas positivas como dopamina, endorfinas, interlucinas o serotonina, entre otras. Ya se ha estudiado el denominado “efecto placebo”, que es la curación por la fe en un determinado agente que se supone curativo o colaborador de la curación. Según Hebert Benson, los índices de curación por efecto placebo van de un 30 a un 90% dependiendo de la enfermedad. Es definitivo: el optimismo cura.
Optimism benefits relationships, as people feel more comfortable with those who have a positive mindset. The company of optimists is for most an activating and revitalizing experience. It is always preferable to share with someone who hopes for the best, than to spend hours with those who announce catastrophes.
Optimism also favors productivity, since people who believe in a bright future are usually natural leaders with the ability to guide others to a better destination. Optimists are more creative, taking more risks to try new things, and since they believe they will achieve what they want, they tend to be bolder and more persevering, leading to greater achievements than those who distrust their actions.
Detractors of optimism claim that being optimistic is self-deception, a kind of hypnosis that clashes with the realism of a crude life, full of duties, obstacles, unpredictable changes and hidden enemies.To this, the optimists respond that "everything is according to the color of the glass with which you look at it", that reality is a perception that everyone has, and that what seems very bad for some may seem very good for others. There are authors who support this positive vision. Norman Vincent Peale has said: 'You can if you think you can. According to Ben Swetland: "To be successful you have to think in terms of success." From the perspective of James Allen, an expert in mental visualization: "You can rise just by changing your thoughts", and in the words of Greg Bradden: "Everything changes if you change the way you see yourself." Each of these ideas refers to the potential miracles results of an optimistic mind.
To develop optimism you have to differentiate ideas from facts, stop justifying negativity and jump into action and imagine the goal as already achieved.Remember that what your mind tells you is one thing and the actual, objective facts of life are quite another. Just because you think that something will go wrong does not mean that it will. Get out of your mind intrusive ideas that cause you to imagine unwanted results. Faced with a negative thought, voluntarily place a positive one: "If I can do it, I will." Practice positive visualization, because by imagining the goals as achieved, you will feel emotionally good and you will display an energy field that will attract favorable events. You can see this as metaphysical or quantum. The truth is that we already know that humans are capable of emitting and capturing energy.
Everything that is practiced develops. Practice optimism, try and keep trying, and remember that as Louise Hay has said, that "only you think in your mind." Thanks for reading me. Twitter: @doctorrenny email: [email protected]
