Like other essential skills and habits, optimism can be practiced and even learned, as shown in rigorous studies cited by Seligman in Learned Optimism. This is true, even in situations in which you seem to have no control.  For example, you have absolutely no control over the weather.  You do, however, have a choice regarding your response to the weather. Today’s beautiful sunny conditions and the torrential downpour of tomorrow are brief and temporary, fleeting in the scheme of things, and will change. Weather is never stable or enduring, and no weather condition lasts. This means that you might as well accept the weather, at the very least, or even be happy about it.  Weather is exactly what it is and not more. Why would you allow yourself to become unhappy or remorseful about something that you honestly cannot change?

Recognize each situation for what it is, whether a stable reality, an opportunity or simply an experience. Like most people you probably have false beliefs about specific conditions that reflect previous events and are incorrect. You have responses that you have repeatedly reinforced over time. Be prepared to better and more wisely interpret situations as they arise, whether they are new or experienced previously. Regard them more positively, and they will become more positive experiences for you.

To experience optimism in a given situation, first step aside and recognize your immediate thoughts or reaction toward the situation. This is whether the circumstance has been personally created by you, or whether you have found yourself in a situation over which you have no control. Your view of the situation, as a matter of choice, can metaphorically be viewed as the commonly stated ‘glass half-full or glass half-empty’ interpretation. As you encounter new scenarios, ask yourself: Am I seeing the best or the worst as my starting point?

 According to Martin Seligman, who has studied optimists for several decades, an optimist’s view of the world is one where defeat is just a temporary setback for the individual, and not his or her fault. A pessimist imagines the worst and is prone to depression, which is a different habit of thinking.1 In general terms, if you recognize a situation as temporary, then you are an optimist, and if you perceive it as permanent, then you are a pessimist.

Seligman conducted a thirty five year study that showed that pessimism in early adulthood results in poor health during middle and late adulthood. Similarly, Seligman’s colleague, Chris Peterson demonstrated that pessimism perpetuates helplessness, and showed that pessimistic individuals are likely to become ill more frequently, and remain unhealthy for a longer period of time. This is because their negative thinking perpetuates a helpless attitude. This also prevents individuals from taking the progressive steps necessary to fight illness.