The Power of Optimism

Being optimistic is not limited to positive thoughts, "says psychologist Lydia Weber." His foundation is in the way we think about causes. The difference between the optimist and the pessimist is in how they explain the cause of good or bad events that happen to them in everyday life, ie, as is his 'explanatory style'. "

If you have difficulty seeing what is positive in situations that lives if focuses more on problems than on solutions, it may be that your emotional style is slightly resilient, as defined American neuroscientist Richard Davidson, author of The Emotional Style brain. Ie, you and I have difficulties to recover from adversity. For example, you (or I) might find you never will deliver a job that is equal to what would (this issue, just to give an example). You'll focus on what you consider to be process failures: did someone enough sources? Will read all the books that should? Should I not have written more versions of the text? 

That these questions are not the problem itself. The issue is that those who have little resilience has trouble getting rid of feelings of anger, sadness, or any negative emotion after loss, adversities, setbacks or other hassle. Besides recover faster adversity, the optimistic have the ability to maintain positive feelings for long periods of time. For Davidson, this translates into a dimension of emotions called attitude, "usually good-natured people tend to be optimistic, people whose moments of joy can be measured in microseconds often feel chronically sad or be pessimistic."

The longest duration of happy times is not the only advantage of being a "poliano". Optimists also enjoy better health. Research shows that this way of looking at life decreases the chances of cardiovascular diseases occur and improves the immune system response. According to the medical school of Harvard, pessimistic men have twice the chance of developing any heart disease in relation to three times more optimistic and to have hypertension. Some people are naturally positive. For them, it comes easy, they think on the good side of things without effort, are half Pollyannas. But others do not. Neuroscience is discovering that there are several ways the brain record and process emotions, with a large variation. "It's a very personal characteristic. Some are extremely perseverant, optimistic, needs to give the donkeys n¿água many times before giving up because something, which is an important factor to decide which activity you engage in," explains neuroscientist Suzana Herculano-Houzel. 

Well, it would be useless to insist on this point, after all, who has these characteristics is born with them and ready. And who are genetically determined to be pessimistic, to see the grayer side of things is also doomed, right? Maybe not. Perhaps optimism is something to be conquered and may be within the reach even of who is considering this approach is not possible. So says Davidson in The Emotional Brain Style. Him that if we can not all be Pollyannas or whistling happy tunes in tense moments, to inject optimism gives way gradually says. For more than 30 years researching the relationship between emotions and the brain, Davidson says, first, that, much as many of our traits are determined by genetic material inherited from our parents, we still have a certain power over the brain . "Even with some aspects hereditary component, the genes do not explain the whole picture," he writes. "We now know that even genetic characteristics may be considerably modified by the experiences of children and according to the way they are treated by parents, teachers and other people," says the researcher. Among those features that can be worked, is optimism.