Lets be 'optimistic' - Tips for teens

Being an 'optimist' does not mean you may never be unhappy or have feelings of sadness sometimes, it just means that most of the time you try and see the good in things/

If you have to make a list of how your day is going or things that happened to you, are you going to end up with a  'positive or negative' list?

Optimism is a mental attitude reflecting a belief or hope that the outcome of some specific endeavor, or outcomes in general, will be positive, favorable, and desirable.

                        

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You can read more about the 'Importance of being optimistic' here.

If you are a person who are optimistic and choose to see the 'brighter side' of life, you will not only be happier, but also healthier.  Your stress will be less and your blood pressure lower than a person who tends to see only the 'dark side'.

It can protect you from getting depressed and some say it can even make you live longer.  Now do these not sound like enough reason to move over to the 'sunny side'?

Optimism and pessimism are mindsets — ways of thinking and seeing things. Optimists see the positive side of things. They expect things to turn out well. They believe they have the skill and ability to make good things happen. 

A person is not always 100% optimistic or 100% pessimistic all the time, but you will lean towards the one more.  That means that even if you sometimes feel down or sad, you will most of the time see the positive side, or you could have 'trained' your mind in such a way that you will find fault with almost everything.

You've probably heard people who tend to see the faults in everything called "pessimists." A pessimist is more likely to expect things to turn out poorly or to focus on what didn't go well. 

Unfortunately there are many people, adults and teenagers that believe that life owes them something and they will find fault as far as they go.  Nobody expects from you to always be happy, but don't you think your life and those around you will not be a bit easier if you choose to find the good in every day??

Another thing about being an optimist is you will accept that things will go wrong at one or other time, but instead of blaming yourself or finding fault with others, you will rather see it as something from which you can learn and that will pass.

To focus on the negative will not only make you feel sick but you will also 'attract' more negativity and later on you will believe that everything bad happens to you and you will just feel more and more sad and cross with everything and everybody.

Being optimistic is not a guarantee that you will only be happy, but it is a guarantee that you will get through it.

Try to be more optimistic by teaching yourself the following

• see the good things happening around you, no matter how small
• tell yourself every day (and believe it) that good things will happen to you and those who you love and if bad things happen you will deal with it and learn from it and carry on
• if things go wrong and it is your fault, take responsibility, but do not blame yourself if you had nothing to do with it.... sometimes life just happens
• if something good happens to you, enjoy the moment and if it is something because of what you did, give yourself a pat on the back.  Feel good about yourself
• remind yourself every day that bad things can happen and that it is just temporary

Optimism is a thinking style that can be learned, which means that pessimism can be unlearned! It can take a little while, so don't feel discouraged. Becoming more aware of the two styles can gradually help you start noticing more ways to be optimistic. Just keep telling yourself, "I can be more optimistic and I'm going to keep practicing!"