It's not uncommon to think that you need youth, health and wealth to feel good about your life and encouraged about your future. Or, you may feel that positivity is simply naive in today's complex world. Not so, say experts. "One of the main misconceptions about optimism is that people who are optimistic are not realistic; that they're approaching the world with clichéd rose-coloured Pollyanna glasses," says Lucy MacDonald, an Ottawa counsellor and the author of Learn to Be an Optimist: A Practical Guide to Achieving Happiness (Chronicle, 2008). The truth is, positive thinking is neither naive nor dependent on your bank balance. It may even be more common than we think.
In a Gallup poll of more than 150,000 adults in over 140 countries, released in May of this year, 89 per cent of people said they expect that in the next five years their life will be as good as or better than their current life, and 95 per cent expected their lives in five years to be as good as or better than their life was five years ago. (Recession? What recession?) The most encouraging aspect of the study is that factors such as age and household income appear to have only a modest effect on an individual's level of optimism.
While it's true we tend to be hardwired with either a glass-half-full or glass-half-empty personality (research links tendencies toward optimism and pessimism to genetics and family upbringing) you can take control of your thoughts. "Optimism is a skill that can be learned," says MacDonald. Here are 10 ways to boost your positivity.
1. Create positive surroundings. "Consider your surroundings and how they support you," says Dr. Denise Larsen, director of research at The Hope Foundation of Alberta and associate professor of counselling psychology at the University of Alberta in Edmonton. "Keep simple objects around you that give you a sense of hope: pictures of family or a scene in nature, a seashell from a holiday."
Make it a habit to go to places that make you feel good, adds Larsen, whether it's a nearby park or bookstore. This may seem trivial, but it really works, says Joan Kovacs of Edmonton, who has learned to live more positively and hopefully after seeking counselling for clinical depression at The Hope Foundation. "Whenever someone says, 'let's go for coffee,' I suggest a local store that's a combined gift shop, flower store and coffee shop. I love being around the colours and all the pretty things. That shop always lifts me up."
2. Take an online road trip. Visit www.roadtowellbeing.ca, a free website developed by psychologists at the Royal University Hospital in Saskatoon. The site takes you through a virtual map featuring areas like "The Forest of Conflict" and "The Plains of Optimism," explaining key points about positive mental and physical health and offering self-assessment worksheets to help you along the way.
3. Visualize your future. Psychology researchers in the United States conducted a month-long study on positive thinking and found that the most effective and long-lasting way to improve your mood was to visualize your "best possible self," writing down details about your ideal life in the future.
Page 2 of 4 -- On the next page, find 7 more tips to bring out your inner optimist.
