Neeraj Dubey
According to Neil, “Whatever you can do with unhappiness you can do better when you’re happy”. Broadly speaking people can be categorized as being generally optimistic or pessimistic. Optimistic people are noted for their ability to see the good in everything, viewing the world as place full of adventure and opportunity. Pessimistic people, on the other hand, meet life with a sense of futility, viewing the world with a certain level of cynicism and negativity. This article will highlight the differences between these opposing mindsets. The emphasis would be to highlight not only the benefits of being optimistic but also some of the hidden advantages that being a pessimist can offer. People, generally, are not born with either an optimistic or pessimistic view of the world. It is learned behavior – learned either through experience or through other people telling us who we are: “You are a great runner, you are a winner, you are a loser, you are useless, you are a great musician etc.” And the great news is that, because this behavior is learned, it can be unlearned. Optimism comes from the Latin word optimus, meaning “best,” which describes how an optimistic person is always looking for the best in any situation and expecting good things to happen. Optimism is the tendency to believe, expect or hope that things will turn out well. Even if something bad happens, like the loss of a job, an optimist sees the silver lining. Being an optimist or a pessimist boils down to the way you talk to yourself. Optimists believe that their own actions result in positive things happening, that they are responsible for their own happiness, and that they can expect more good things to happen in the future. Optimists don’t blame themselves when bad things happen. They view bad events as results of something outside of themselves. Pessimists think the opposite way, however. They blame themselves for the bad things that happen in their lives and think that one mistake means more will inevitably come.
Do you know how can being optimistic or pessimistic can affect your life? When people are being optimistic, it means that they are looking toward the bright side of the world, seeing thing in positive ways. On the other side, a pessimistic person is a person who habitually sees or anticipates the worst or is disposed to be gloomy. Being optimistic or pessimistic can affect us more than we think. It can affect our life in relationship, our health and our work. When optimists are facing an extremely serious problem, they will not really be in a deep depression for so long. Being optimistic makes people feel calm and comfortable because they are not trying to put all the bad emotions into their head. This will make them a cheerful, hopeful and assured person, which these characters tend to make them fill with happiness and certainly, everyone likes it. Since emotion is contagious, these people can influence other people to have positive emotion as well. That is the reason why people like to be with an optimist. They can feel and absorb the cheerfulness, hopefulness and assurance from them. It is also about the way an optimistic person judges other people. They will see only the good things of other people or think about them in a positive way. Example, when a daughter did something wrong and she confessed it to her mother. If her mother is an optimistic person, instead of getting angry and reprove her daughter, she will be proud and praise her for being brave that she acknowledges her own mistake.
Many researchers have done a detailed study in these two aspects of life and come up with a conclusion that: – i.) Optimists are more likely to extract positives from every experience compared to their pessimistic counterparts. ii) Optimists are noted to achieve more than the pessimists. iii) Optimists are healthier (A study reported by Live-Science.com showed that the cardio-vascular system of optimists is significantly more likely to stay healthier longer when compared with the pessimist’s system.) iv) Optimists are confident in themselves (Confidence is a determining factor for optimism and pessimism. Optimists believe they can overcome whatever life throws at them and continue on their way. Pessimists don’t believe this, and so are “victims” of circumstance.) v) Optimists see possibility, Pessimists See Problems. (The positive-minded person says, “What should I do next? There are so many exciting options!”
The negative-minded person says, “What should I do next? I’ve got so many problems to deal with”). In author’s opinion, “When we laugh the whole world laughs with you, but, “when we cry – nobody is going to cry with you. So it is better to be optimist, to stay healthy and fit.
(The author is Asstt. Professor, GCET, Jammu)
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