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.