Every morning people wake up with a certain outlook on life: Whether it will be a good day or a bad day. An optimist believes in a good outcome, that everyone will be okay. A pessimist takes a more realistic approach, accepting that not everything can be sunshine and rainbows. Personally, I believe that everyone needs to be a little more optimistic and go into the day believing it will be a good one if you let it be.
For me, there’s a certain added highlight to the day if you can approach it with just a little bit better of a mood. In a world where a lot of people focus on how bad life may be, there has been a significant decrease in the thinking of “How could this be better?” Adding just that simple detail into our daily lives can make all the difference.
Far too often, people get stuck on the fact that they can’t do something, or that something is too hard. Having an optimistic mindset in these situations is what can make the world a little bit of a better place. According to The National Library of Medicine, studies conducted have shown that having an optimistic attitude directly correlates with a better physical well-being. Going forward with this advice could help everyone just be a little bit happier in their day to day lives.
Not only can having a positive mindset make you happier, but it also allows you to be more creative. A realist may look at a situation where something isn’t working and decide to do something completely different, whereas an optimist may use more positive thinking and get creative with a solution, even if it doesn’t work, they are still trying to look on the bright side of life and find a fix to every problem.
Especially in student athletes, optimism is very important. In my case, being a tennis player, you’re always thinking about the point being played and trying to figure out how you can beat your opponent one point at a time. If you’re getting down on yourself and thinking about all of the shots you’re missing, nothing will improve, whereas if you focus on what can be better, think positive, and move on from the bad shots, each point will go a little bit better.
The biggest way to carry through the day with an optimistic attitude is starting your day out right. If you have a good attitude when you wake up in the morning, you can carry that with you until the end of the day. At the beginning of every day, tell yourself one good thing that you have going on that day. It can be as simple as you are having pizza for dinner or something deeper, like you’re hanging out with your cousins that you haven’t seen in a while. But most important of all, just focus on the good, don’t let the bad bring you down too far, and bring a little bit of optimism into everything that you do.
The views in this column do not necessarily reflect the views of the Acumen staff. Reach Camryn Lazard at [email protected].