Is It Beneficial To Be Optimistic? Let The Magic Happen.
In optimism there is magic. In pessimism there is nothing.
Abraham Hicks
I think one of the most important things we can do for ourselves is stay optimistic. I don’t think it’s a good idea to be unrealistic and continuously hope for the impossible. But, it’s okay to be positive and hopeful. If you’re constantly knocking yourself down and telling yourself that you can’t do something or something bad is always going to happen then when will you ever succeed or find confidence in yourself? Hardly ever.
I used to have a friend that would always expect the worst possible thing to happen. Didn’t matter what situation she was in. About to take a test? She thought she was going to fail. Even after an endless amount of studying. Started talking to someone she liked? He’s not interested, he’s just being nice. Something good was going on in her life? It’s about to come to an end, good things never last. The list goes on and on…
This always drove me BONKERS!! We obviously had very different ideas on the importance of being optimistic.
My opinion: Why wouldn’t someone be optimistic? I believe that if you want and believe that good things will happen then they’re more likely to happen. There’s no need to sell yourself short, psych yourself out, and crumble your self worth.
Her opinion: Why should someone be optimistic? There’s no point in setting yourself up to fail or getting your hopes up. It’s not very likely that all of these situations are going to turn out in my favor. I’d rather not get my hopes up just to be let down and disappointed.
To a certain degree, I agree with her and understand where she’s coming from. For instance, it’s not very realistic for me to wait around for Ian Somerhalder (Damon in The Vampire Diaries) to fall madly in love with me. He has no idea I exist, he’s famous, married, and frankly, it’s just never going to happen. Therefore, it’s not very practical for me to put my love life on hold for a TV series crush. That’s a great example of being overly optimistic and out of touch with reality. But, that’s not a common, day to day situation.
We all take risks in our day to day life. Some big, some small. Maybe you sent your crush the first “Hey!” text today instead of waiting for him to initiate the texting. On a bigger scale, maybe you signed up for a class that’s out of your comfort zone or applied for an advanced job position that feels out of your reach. Do you think you should tell yourself that there’s no chance you’ll succeed? Definitely not!
Positivity. Confidence. Hopefulness. Happiness. Idealistic
All of those seem like awesome characteristics, right? Well all of those words are synonyms for being optimistic. Being optimistic doesn’t mean that you’re setting yourself up to fail or that you’re going to end up getting disappointed. Although it might happen, the beauty is in the risk. Being optimistic means that you’re confident and rooting for a positive outcome. It means that you are trusting in yourself (or someone else) that something good is going to come out of whatever situation you’re in, even if other’s have lost hope.
Optimism = Magic. Pessimism = Nothing.
The big difference between the friend I was talking about earlier and myself is happiness. Although this friend almost always had a smile on her face she wasn’t truly happy. She just assumed that everything was going to go wrong because that was easier for her. But I noticed that when things went right she just waited for it all to come crashing down instead of enjoying the moment. She was never happy with herself, always felt like she wasn’t good enough.
This friend is incredibly smart and driven. Her biggest down fall is that she doesn’t believe in herself or realize her self worth.
Optimism is a choice. You have to wake up every morning and believe that good things are going to happen. Then you have to make them happen. You cannot have self-confidence without optimism. If you never believe that good things will happen and you’re never hopeful, then you will never believe in yourself. Realize your self-worth. Everyone should see their true beauty and worth because each and every person is valued and full of worth.
There are organizations that help build self-confidence and optimism. Here are a few:
- SELFiD (Self Image Defined)
- Optimist International
There’s magic all around us, sometimes we just have to believe to see it. Wake up each morning and choose optimism, magic, and confidence, so you can find the beauty the world has to offer you.
Previous Post
Next Post