Humans are divided into two camps. The glass-half-full types and the glass-half-empty types.
People who see a train delay as an opportunity to finish that long-read everyone’s talking about, and people who think a delay is going to ruin their whole day, maybe even their life.
Pessimists and optimists. They are sweeping character identities that essentially sum up how you perceive the world around you and react to the things that happen to you – and some argue the camp you fall in to can have much wider implications.
A new study has found that being an optimist could actually help you live longer.
Scientists at the Boston University School of Medicine concluded that looking on the bright side of life is more likely help you achieve ‘exceptional longevity’ – living to 85 or older.
And this isn’t the only study of this kind. Earlier this month, researchers at the University of Illinois found that optimists get better sleep. And a 2015 study claimed that positive thinkers have healthier hearts.
Given the well documented benefits of being relentlessly chipper, it’s not surprising that more people are making a conscious effort to develop a more sunny disposition.
But is it actually possible to become an optimist, or is it just something that you’re born with? Are pessimists destined from birth to assume the worst, or can you alter your outlook?
Rebecca Lockwood is a Neuro Linguistic Programming Coach and has a theory about why certain people are more optimistic from a young age.
‘Within the imprint period of our lives, between the ages of birth and seven, we take on our beliefs from our family members, our parents and the people around us like our teachers and carers,’ explains Rebecca.
‘Within this period of life, our values and beliefs are formed and they usually stick around until we grow into adulthood and beyond. If someone is an optimist it is usually picked up from this time in life.
‘Becoming an optimist can also come out of a low point in life, a loss or something that shakes up the norm. This can lead to an individual becoming more positive for the future out of a desire to live a happier and more fulfilled life and having had a sense of ‘having enough’ and needing to make a change for the better.’
Rebecca says that optimism is essentially being positive and hopeful about the future. Even when things look bleak, Rebecca says optimists are able to see the bright side and be confident in that belief, despite not knowing what the future holds.
She says it’s about your reactions in the face of uncertainty, and she says it is something that can be learnt and developed.
‘You can completely become an optimist,’ says Rebecca. ‘By being positive about what the future holds for you and feeling grateful for what you already have in your life, you can feel more positive each day and expect everything to turn out for the best.’
But if you’re naturally negative, that might sound completely exhausting. It’s also important to note that you don’t have to feel positive about everything all the time. Optimism doesn’t have to be unrealistic – it’s normal to feel down or overwhelmed sometimes, even if you’re an optimist.
‘I’m not saying that you have to be happy and positive all of the time to be an optimist,’ says Rebecca.
‘Sometimes life does get to optimists and they can go through times where things may be uneasy or unsure, but overall an optimist will go through these phases quicker and come out of the other end feeling more positive and brighter than before.’
How to become an optimist
Becoming an optimist relies on the ability to harness, and intentionally practise, two important qualities.
Using gratitude
We can train the mind to become more aware of positive events and experiences as and when they happen.
Cultivating more mindfulness
At the same time we allow the space to acknowledge our negative thoughts and feelings, whilst also letting them go.
Dr Elena Touroni, consultant psychologist and co-founder of The Chelsea Psychology Clinic
Psychologist Hope Bastine thinks it’s helpful to think about optimism not as a personality type, but as a way of thinking.
‘You can’t change your personality type by you can retrain and re-frame your thinking style,’ explains Hope. ‘So you can shift from a pessimistic thinking style to an optimistic thinks style.’
‘The way to do that is to identify the pessimistic automatic thought, trace any feelings connected to that thought, consider an alternative and re-frame the negative to a positive thought process – and the test it out.
‘The more you practice this, the quicker it will become your new default position – changing your pessimistic default to a new optimistic default mind mode.’
One example of this, says Hope, is instead of thinking ‘it’s raining’, think, ‘the plants or getting watered.’ Or, instead of ‘I’m slow’, think, ‘I’m thoughtful and conscientious.’
So if you really want to learn how to look on the bright side of life, and reap the benefits that come with that, it can be done. But it will take some practice.
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