27 Dec 7 steps to replace irrational optimism with a roadmap for action
Optimism is good.
Optimism is VERY good.
Optimism has been found to be associated with higher levels of happiness and wellbeing, resilience and even longevity.
But for optimism to “work”, for it to bring about “real” health and happiness, it needs to be grounded in reality. Unrealistic positivity can actually be as bad or worse as negativity.
So, here’s how you can get it right …
via Fast Company by Yonason Goldson
As everyone knows, we live in the best of all possible worlds. After all, how many possible worlds are there? One—the one we live in. So, if there is only one possible world, then obviously we live in the best of all possible worlds.
This is the philosophy of Voltaire’s absurdist intellectual, Dr. Pangloss, whose name translates roughly as “universal superficiality.” Despite being impoverished, infected, shipwrecked, caught in an earthquake, hanged for heresy, and sentenced to be a galley slave, he forever clings to his irrepressible optimism.
Hence, this week’s addition to the Ethical Lexicon:
Panglossian (Pan·gloss·i·an/ pan-ˈglä-sē-ən) adjective
An outlook of irrational exuberance in anticipation of an idealized future: Pollyanna; rose-colored; utopian; optimistic.
Let’s start with optimism, which derives from the same root as optimum. Optimists are idealists, possessed by the conviction that things will turn out as well as they possibly could, that our existence is headed—in the truest Panglossian sense—toward becoming the best of all possible worlds.
In contrast, pessimists live under the dark cloud of foreboding, convinced that fate relentlessly follows Murphy’s Law: Anything that can go wrong, will. The ethical mindset, however, rejects binary choices. Between the extremes, we can live emotionally healthy lives by adopting an outlook guided by hopeful realism.
What is the difference between optimism and hope? It’s precisely the same as the difference between John Lennon and Paul McCartney…
… keep reading the full & original article HERE