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Optimism



Optimism is an attitude characterized by hope, confidence, and the belief that the future will be good; it is largely tied to self-esteem and resilience. Optimists tend to draw on internal resources to overcome challenges, viewing obstacles as opportunities for learning. However, while the benefits of a positive outlook on life are numerous—lower stress, persistence, greater achievement, increased longevity—an overly rosy outlook can be used as a method of avoidance or as an invalidation of others’ feelings. Fostering a healthy sense of optimism can come naturally to some and can be a journey for others; most consider practicing mindfulness and gratitude as some of the soundest methods to start your optimism practice.

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Be Optimistic

His Holiness the Dalai Lama talks about the importance of optimism at the end of a two day interactive dialogue with United States Institute of Peace Youth Leaders at his residence in Dharamshala, HP, India on May 4, 2016.

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Learned Optimism: How to Change Your Mind and Your Life

Known as the Father of the new science of Positive Psychology, Martin E.P. Seligman draws on more than twenty years of clinical research to demonstrate how optimism enhances the quality of life, and how anyone can learn to practice it. Offering many simple techniques, Dr.

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What Is Optimism?

The mental attitude characterized by hope and confidence in success and a positive future.

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FindCenterPoetry is not a luxury. It is a vital necessity of our existence. It forms the quality of the light within which we predicate our hopes and dreams toward survival and change, first made into language, then into an idea, then into more tangible action.

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Dr. Seligman’s Definition of Optimism

Find out how Dr. Martin Seligman defines optimism.

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The Hope Circuit: A Psychologist’s Journey from Helplessness to Optimism

Martin E. P. Seligman is one of the most decorated and popular psychologists of his generation. When he first encountered the discipline in the 1960s, it was devoted to eliminating misery: the science of how past trauma creates present symptoms.

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How to Be Hopeful, Even When It’s Really, Really Hard

As uncomfortable as it may feel, pushing ourselves to imagine that better future may be a crucial way for us to maintain some semblance of mental well-being—now and whenever that beautiful future does arrive.

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FindCenterYou can feel the whole world and still feel lost in it. So many people are in pain—no matter how smart or accomplished—they cry, they yearn, they hurt. But instead of looking down on things, they look up, which is where I should have been looking, too.

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The Book of Awesome

Sometimes it's easy to forget the things that make us smile.

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How to Stay Optimistic When Everything Seems Wrong

Optimism isn’t about ignoring negative feelings. It’s about being hopeful about the future, even when the present seems wholly negative.

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Resilience