STRESS-BUSTING BENEFITS OF POSITIVE THINKING
Outlook really can be everything
BY:MARY ELIZABETH TERZELLA
Research suggests that optimism results in less stress, better health, greater success and more happiness. If you tend to see the glass as half empty, you may want to change your style—your explanatory style, that is, says M. J. Ryan, author of The Happiness Makeover (Broadway Books, 2005). “Learned optimism” expert Martin Seligman and others have found that optimistic thinkers tend to see bad events as fleeting and beyond their control, while pessimistic types blame themselves for problems and figure they will last forever, says Ryan. On the other hand, pessimists consider positive events a fluke (“I was lucky”), while optimists take credit for them (“I did well on the project because I'm smart”).
To feel more contented and get more enjoyment out of life, Ryan recommends finding more positive ways to explain setbacks: “When things go wrong, remind yourself that the situation is temporary, confined to this one thing and outside of your control.” Conversely, when things go well, ask yourself: “What about me made this wonderful thing happen?”
“Optimism is really a verb, not a noun,” says Ryan. “The more we practice it, the better we'll feel.”