Better You Blog

Posts Tagged ‘Hard Knocks’

“Two men look out through the same bars: One sees the mud, and one sees the stars.”- Frederick Langbridge, A Cluster of Quiet Thoughts

If you’ve placed second in a writing contest, will you jump for joy and push for better results the next time or will you be discouraged and find an excuse not to join again?

In life, you are always filled with choices. You may opt to have a pessimist’s view and live a self-defeated life or you may decide to take the optimist’s route and take a challenging and fulfilling life.

So why nurture an optimist’s point of view? And why now?

Well, optimism has been linked to positive mood and good morale; to academic, athletic, military, occupational and political success; to popularity; to good health and even to long life and freedom from trauma.

On the other hand, the rates of depression and pessimism have never been higher. It affects middle-aged adults the same way it hits younger people. The mean age of onset has gone from 30 to 15. It is no longer a middle-aged housewife’s disorder but also a teen-ager’s disorder as well.

Here is how optimists are in action and researches that back up why it really pays to be an optimist:

• Optimists expect the best

The defining characteristic of pessimists is that they tend to believe bad events, which will last a long time and undermine everything they do, are their own fault.

The truth is optimists are confronted with the same hard knocks of this world. What differs is the way they explain their misfortune—it is the opposite way. They tend to believe defeat is just a temporary setback, that its causes are confined to this one case.

Optimists tend to focus on and plan for the ‘problem’ at hand. They use ‘positive reinterpretation.’ In other words, they most likely reinterpret a negative experience in a way that helps them learn and grow. Such people are unfazed by bad situation, they perceive it is a challenge and try harder.

They won’t say “things will never get better, If I failed once, it will happen again and If I experience misfortune in one part of my life, then it will happen in my whole life.”

Positive expectancies of optimists also predict better reactions during transitions to new environments, sudden tragedies and unlikely turn of events. If they fall, they will stand up. They see opportunities instead of obstacles.

• People respond positively to optimists

Optimists are proactive and less dependent on others for their happiness. They find no need to control or manipulate people. They usually draw people towards them. Their optimistic view of the world can be contagious and influence those they are with.

Optimism seems a socially desirable trait in all communities. Those who share optimism are generally accepted while those who spread gloom, panic and hysteria are treated unfavorably.

In life, these people often win elections; get voted most congenial and sought for advice.

• When the going gets tough, optimists get tougher

Optimists typically maintain higher levels of subjective well-being during times of stress than do people who are less optimistic. In contrast, pessimists are likely to react to stressful events by denying that they exist or by avoiding dealing with problems. Pessimists are more likely to quit trying when difficulties arise.

They persevere. They just don’t give up easily, they are also known for their patience. Inching their way a step closer to that goal or elusive dream.

• Optimists are healthier and live longer

Medical research has justified that simple pleasures and a positive outlook can cause a measurable increase in the body’s ability to fight disease.

Optimists health is unusually good. They age well, much freer than most people from the usual physical ills of middle age. And they get to outlive those prone to negative thoughts.

So why not be an optimist today? And think positively towards a more fulfilled life.

Why not look forward to success in all your endeavors? Why not be resilient? Like everybody else you are bound to hit lows sometimes but don’t just stay there. Carry yourself out of the mud and improve your chances of getting back on the right track. And why not inspire others to remove their dark-colored glasses and see life in the bright side?

• Your Job Interview:Interview For Success Having a job interview is seldom a pleasant experience. However, it doesn’t have to be pure torture as many interpret it. Many people fall into the trap of second guessing themselves. This creates worry, which can lead to panic. The end result is, someone else gets the job and not......
• Build Your Self Esteem So how do you stay calm, composed and maintain self esteem in a tough environment? Here are some tips you may to consider as a starter guide to self improvement. Imagine yourself as a Dart Board. Everything and everyone else around you may become Dart Pins, at one point or......
• Building Your Self-Esteem So how do you stay calm, composed and maintain self-esteem in a tough environment? Here are some tips you may to consider as a starter guide to self-improvement. Imagine yourself as a Dart Board. Everything and everyone else around you may become Dart Pins, at one point or another. These......
• MOTIVATION, The Heart OF Self Improvement Pain may sometimes be the reason why people change. Getting flunked grades make us realize that we need to study. Debts remind us of our inability to look for a source of income. Being humiliated gives us the "push" to speak up and fight for ourselves to save our face......
• Your sex appeal can be your confidence booster Sex appeal can make you stand out of the crowd and come across as the most happening person around. Confidence plays an important role in the dating game as well as otherwise.  A person who can carry himself smartly is the one who is impressive and looked upon. You need......

• 5 Step Formula For Financial Success One of the world's most successful investors, Sir John Templeton, died on 8 July,2008. A billionaire and pioneer of globally diversified managed funds, he was referred to by Money magazine in 1999 as 'arguably the greatest stock picker of the century'. In 2007 he was named one of Time magazine's......
• View of Time Time is in your head, and all that you know is time. Your whole view of time and space is psychic. It’s the mental/spiritual element in the diagram of elements. The psychic is actually matter, and the time you perceive is time you are relating to, because it’s space you......
• Celebrating The Good Things In Life Life is always full of it's ups and downs. It's just the way it is. Some days you are living large and feeling like no one else in the world can be as happy as you are right now...and then in an instant your world can crash and you wonder if......
• Vehicle Of Life People often lament that life is sprinkled with moments of change with long stretches in between. True, but is life immutable? Just have to wait for an air hole to breath from? I don't think so. Then you understand that well. Life shows every evidence of being willing to accommodate......
• Accept Reverence Reverence has a complimentary attitude, irreverence. Our drive to reverence is not necessarily a drive to religiosity, and many people gloat at the idea that they are irreverent thinkers, that they hold nothing sacred. To paraphrase Jesus, “They know not what they do.”. Irreverence has its place when it stems......