Optimism

(I wrote this article for one of the first issues of The Odyssey. The irony here is that after writing the article, I really thought that readers would dismiss the article as cliche or just a total waste of time to read. So much for optimism.)

Optimism Can Go a Long Way I use to think that optimism was something inherently wired into individual personality—you either had it or you didn’t. Recently, I’ve learned that this is not the case. Sure, some people might naturally see the glass as always half-full, but others (like myself) haven’t been as fortunate.

Optimism is a mindset and a way of interpreting the external world around you.

And since we can’t ever interpret things objectively (we have to rely on our senses, and our mind), we have to make the decision as to how we’re going to make sense of the events that transpire in our lives. Why not choose to see everything in a positive light if you have the control to do so? If you don’t get that summer internship you’ve been trying to land for the past three weeks; if you’re girlfriend/boyfriend just dumped you; if you can’t spend you’re Thursday night boozing with your friends because you’ve got a test the next morning—yeah, on the surface these are all pretty lousy occurrences.

But, maybe you find a better internship that you would’ve never came across had you landed that other gig; maybe you meet your dream girl/guy once you’re single; maybe you learn some interesting while studying that ends up being useful later down the road—these are all possible (and realistic) outcomes. Sure, these things might not happen, but fretting and regretting about outcomes that you’ve no control over leads to nothing but perpetual unhappiness.

This probably sounds cheesy, but conditioning your mind to think more optimistically can really lead to an overall greater sense of well-being. When the negative voice in your head starts to voice his opinion, block him out. Even if you can’t find the smallest trace of something positive to pull out of a situation, keep searching. Your mind is a powerful device; it can be your best friend or your worst enemy. Understand that you are not your thoughts, and although you may not be able to control everything that plays in your mind, you can control what you decide to listen to. Choose to listen to the positive voice, and pay no attention to the negatives. Abe Lincoln said it best: “Most people are about as happy as they make up their minds to be.”

That’s all I got.

Best Ryan