What is it about some people’s ability to always see a silver-lining in the face of stressful events and circumstances?
Is optimism something that can really make a difference in our lives? Vital optimism can save your life, help you discover your gifts and talents, improve the quality of your life, and increase your personal impact.
What is vital optimism?
“Optimism is not living in a fantasy world where nothing tragic ever happens or unexpected challenges do not present themselves; vital optimism is a confidence that tragedy or difficulty is not the last word, that the best is yet to be.”
What can vital optimism do?
Optimism is a real quality that can be nurtured, grown, and encouraged. Doctors and researchers have been fascinated with the people who demonstrate the confidence that the best is yet to be, even in the face of conditions and circumstances few of us can begin to imagine.
Dr. Dennis Charney, Dean of Research at Mount Sinai School of Medicine, and Dr. Steve Southwick concluded that optimism was the most essential quality of resilient people.
Charney and Southwick study individuals who have been exposed to extreme stress in an attempt to understand why some people demonstrate remarkable resilience. In their study they worked with 750 Vietnam veterans, primarily pilots, who while held as prisoners of war for six to eight years, were tortured and held in solitary confinement.
What is remarkable about these POW’s is that they did not develop depression or post traumatic stress disorder after their release.
Dr. Charney and Dr. Southwcik conducted extensive interviews, neuropsychological testing, and DNA studies seeking to understand what made them so resilient. The study concluded these men possessed ten characteristics that were essential to their survival and personal prosperity. Here are the top five qualities these men possessed and utilized during their imprisonment.
- Optimism - a deeply seeded belief of hope and positive expectation.
- Altruism - a willingness and desire to help others inspire of their own condition.
- Possessing a moral compass or a set of beliefs that cannot be shattered.
- Faith and spirituality - for some prayer was a daily ritual.
- Humor - the ability to find and express humor.
“Hope is definitely not the same thing as optimism. It is not the conviction that something will turn out well, but the certainty that something makes sense, regardless of how it turns out.”
—Vaclav Havel
Five simple things you can do starting today, to raise your optimism.
- Know your strengths and use them. Take one of your top five strengths and purposefully and selectively use it in a new or positive way every day for a few weeks. A study by Albert Bandura, Stanford University, concluded that personal growth and mastery are keys to well being.
- Maintain a gratitude/blessing journal. Write down three to five things you are grateful and thankful for. People who consistently demonstrate gratitude and acknowledge blessings are more optimistic.
- Pass along encouragement and support. Reach out to someone with encouragement or support.
- Surround yourself with and seek out people who encourage you and make you laugh. You can’t live a positive life surrounded by negative people.
- “Don’t fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns.” Philippians 4:6
Optimism is not something we are born with but something that is nurtured and cultivated.
Did any of the top five qualities surprise you? Which one and why?