Optimism

Psychoneuroimmunology is the study of the heavily intertwined relationships between thoughts, emotions and the immune system. Within recent years there has been a shift within the medical field. Health professionals are no longer just accessing health in terms of the physical body, but also including holistic trends that take into consideration all parts of a person (mind, body, spirit, community, relationships, emotions, nutrition, and so on). It is no secret that our minds, not just our brains, but our thoughts, views, and ideas are an enormous part of who we are as individuals.

Explanatory styles are the ways in which we describe and or explain different happenings. There are generally two primary explanatory styles, optimistic and pessimistic. Of course, most of us are not strictly optimistic or pessimistic, but rather a mix of the two leaning more heavily in one direction or the other.

There has been a lot of discussion within the wellness and psychological realms about whether we as individuals have the ability to choose our explanatory style. The answer is YES! While it is true that we don’t always have control over what happens to and around us we do have control over how we react and go forward. Though, making a change on such a deep, habituated level takes time and discipline.

Becoming more optimistic can be life enriching in ways that go far beyond just being a more positive person. Pessimistic individuals tend to have higher blood pressures, bigger waist sizes, and poor relationships (just to name a few things) compared to those that have an overall brighter outlook in life. Becoming more optimistic can increase your overall self confidence and provide the power to feel in control of your life.

A few tips and thoughts for becoming more optimistic:

• Make thinking happy thoughts a habit (this may sound cheesy, but it works!!)
  • Research shows that those who commit even a few minutes a day to embrace gratitude and pleasant thoughts are happier overall over time.
• Be aware of the people and things in your life.
  • Does your environment leave your feeling happy or stressed?
• Make conscious effort to acknowledge what you can and cannot control.
  • Letting go of the things you have absolutely no control over can decrease stress and negativity immensely.
• Do more things that make YOU happy
  • If we are constantly engaged in activities that bring us down rather than lift us up, the only way to go is down!
• Accept the negative
  • We cannot be optimists ALL the time. It is impossible! Trying to believe that everything is going to be perfect all the time is only setting yourself up for failure.

Finally, one of the most powerful things we can do not just in an effort to try and become more optimistic, but in life, is ask ourselves one very powerful question: “why do things happen for me?”. Notice how the question wasn’t, “why do things happen to me?”. There is a big difference between the two questions. One allows you to be a victim and the other doesn’t. Learning to look at situations (even the bad/unfortunate ones) and seeing how they can become learning experiences rather than built up negativity is going to decide between optimism and pessimism.