The Possibilities of Optimism

Why is it that optimists seem to be so much happier than pessimists?

There is something really wonderful about optimists. They’re fun to be around, aren’t they? No matter how bad their situation, optimists can always find something to enjoy – usually simple things like the taste of a good cup of coffee, the smell of the air on a fine spring day, the sound of a wind chime tinkling in the breeze.

Now it’s important to understand that optimism is not saying “everything is getting better every day in every way.” Nor is it saying that the worst is behind us, or seeing sweetness and light, when what’s happening is evil and ugly. Optimists don’t ignore reality. They just choose to look at it from a different perspective.

Optimists know that for all its faults, the world is also filled with good things to be savored and enjoyed. These positive people know that our experience in life is largely determined by where we choose to focus our attention and how we choose to respond to what happens to us.

Optimists understand that happiness is not so much a matter of what we have and what’s going on around us, as it is a choice we make. The wonders and beauty of life are all around us, right now, right where we are. All that is required is for us to be attentive and open to them and that we make a conscious choice to see and hear and experience them.

Some days, it’s simply the difference between looking down, and looking up. And yes, for some of us, making that shift is a difficult thing to do sometimes. But it is possible! And if we accept the possibility of optimism in nearly every situation, then we open the door to seeing new solutions to the challenges that face us and the path to making positive change.

Do you choose to be happy today? It is, after all, up to you.