How to be an Optimist

Hola amigos!

On a beautiful sunny day, I had a long conversation with my friend: What is Optimism?

Can you give me the answer?

(Wait! please don’t throw the biggest misconception of putting Optimism and Hope in the same basket on me!)

“What?? Optimism is not hope?? Okay well, but at least hope is the source for it, right?”

Ahhmm Well no!

“Optimism is to ignore the reality around you.”

Optimism != delusion, mi amigo…(hoping you know python)

Hope is “I can make things better” while Optimism is “Everything will be Okay” (and that’s not delulu!) There is a huge difference that we are going to discuss now. And to your disbelief let me add that Hope cannot bring Optimism! Instead, Optimism can surely bring Hope. Optimism, unlike Hope, is NOT a feeling but a BELIEF about the future. It is a state of mind. If it’s there, it’s there. It is not conditional and nothing can change it. An Optimist is an Optimist. On the other hand, Hope is something conditional, that can go away in certain situations and come back in others. If you want an example, If Optimism is Climate then Hope is Weather that can change daily. Optimists do lose hope sometimes. Probably 2 back to back hopeless days just went by, but that doesn't make them Pessimistic, just like 2 days of warmth can’t change the climate of a cold country.

Optimism and Pessimism are not temporary, as I mentioned they are the state of mind, not a feeling. Being an Optimist you don’t ‘hope’ everything is going to be okay, you ‘know’ it.

“And Why being one?”

Optimistic people get more joy, are physically healthier, are resilient to stressful twists, and have better relationships. Optimists believe their goals are achievable and are more committed to them and can stress their bodies in that pursuit.

"Why would I believe you?"

Well, if you can argue, use the comment facility and CHANGE MY MIND.

“Okay leave it, How can you make your mind up to be an Optimist?”

That’s the point, you can’t make it up! If you ask an Optimist, what made him like this, the person will not have an answer. If Optimism had come from something, it would have been easy to shatter. Once the source is gone, Optimism is gone!

“So?”

Optimism comes from your perception: How you perceive your experiences, your failures and your successes, the little to biggest things in your life, and how you process your emotions. Remember, we are the products of our thinking.

Let us focus on how someone can become an optimist. Keep in mind two things before proceeding:

1. Optimism and pessimism are mindsets, they are a way of thinking. And hence, it’s not a piece of cake to convert (not rocket science either).

2. If you are not an optimist doesn’t imply that you are a pessimist and vice versa!. Yes, you can be neutral.

[If you stick to the end, you’ll find some super interesting bonus tips! So keep reading!]

Okay before proceeding to “how”, let’s confirm “how much”: how optimistic you already are! I know I am asking too much, but grab a pen and paper, or your phone notes, or your journal, anything, just for 5 minutes. CLICHE duh

More cliche, but write about your day (will only take five minutes!). If nothing much happened yet, write about yesterday, no excuses…Just 5 lines or so if you are lazy.

Now tell me how much portion is about the good and lucky things? 90-100%? Damn, you are an Optimist. 0%? not your fault, if you stick to the end, probably you will write reading this newsletter in your good things list hehe. 50%, you are being honest, great work champ. 1-49% less optimism than pessimism and 51-89% more pessimism than optimism. Now you know! For your ease let’s do it right here:

Bingo, you think that’s rubbish? you aren’t wrong. Only 5 lines can’t define your mindset bruh! but yeah you sure have some insights.

Now, to lead on the path of optimism, I can suggest 5 simple steps:

1. Notice the good things in your day, even if your day was the worst ever. Light has a meaning only when there exists darkness! Only one good thing is enough but notice. Probably that you were able to eat on time, or probably if it was a super tiring day, then the good thing is that you were physically active! Probably you were lying in bed the whole day crushing your productivity with Instagram Reels and Mobile games, but still, you can be glad to have free time to do what you want. (2 days before the exam, nothing was going right, so I just made an amazing cold coffee with a super easy and tasty sandwich enough to call my day beautiful > <, after all, food is the best thing!)

2. Start giving more credit to yourself! Did you get ready in just 10 min because you were late? I must say that’s worth giving credit dude. Did you help your friend solve an incredibly easy problem, but he wasn't trying at all, which pissed you off? Good work dealing with him dude! Did you save some pennies today by not following your foolish craving? Did you help someone? If you are willing to find the good, you will find the best!

3. Instead of adapting to the habit of blaming yourself and others over things going wrong, notice where it went wrong and how can it be fixed. Of course, improvement is progress :)

4. Build trust in yourself that you can make good things happen. “If I practice enough, I’ll make it to the finals.”, “If I give 1 more hour of nondistracted focus, I can surely get better marks”, and “If I can work a bit seriously, I can finish it before the deadline”.

5. Make friends with Optimists to know how they go about their daily life. Ask them how they keep themselves motivated when things go wrong. Trust me, life isn't easier for others than it is for you. Everyone is struggling, growing, and trying, whether they show it or not. Life isn’t easy and it will never be, but you can choose your mindset. Do you want to keep crying and just 'survive'? Or do you want to stand up, decide to keep going even when you fail, and start 'living'? You have to live either way, but choosing to live positively will make things easier.

Bonus time! ( Did you just jump here from the top knowing the bonus ( >_< *) How is that a bonus then? )

The first thing, to your surprise, let me tell you that you can put a ‘spell’ on your brain to make it believe what you want it to believe!

Refer :

The second thing is a movie you may already know, on optimism and hope, “Shawshank Redemption”. If Andy can be an optimist without hope for so many years, what’s your excuse?

The third and the most fun, motivating, and easy-to-follow bonus is an Anime (of course) named “Haikyu”. You will discover what 'believing in yourself' and making 'constant, unconditional efforts' even when there is no hope you can achieve.

Thanks for reading until the end. I wish you the best day today and the best week ahead! Let me know how did you find this in the comments. I would really appreciate taking suggestions for topics of the new story!