Better Health & Living: Article: Looking Up

Better Health & Living

Issue: April 2006

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Looking Up

by Susan Flagg Godbey

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Have you ever heard of a cockeyed pessimist?

Didn’t think so. While we may tease pessimists, calling them Eeyore or Gloomy Gus, we insult optimists.

Maybe optimism has gotten such a bum rap because it’s uncool to wear hope on your sleeve. I’ve found that hope can make pessimists uneasy, sarcastic—even angry. I know, because I was a pessimist most of my life. It took me far too long to figure out that it was fear—not strength or a clear head—that made me pessimistic.

Actually, what I discovered was that I was a pseudo-pessimist: I told myself that bad things were likely to happen because I secretly believed that negative projections would protect me from disappointment and paralyzing sadness if my buried dreams were never realized. But somewhere along the line, through investigation and lucky contact with emotionally intelligent people, I discovered the advantages of coming out of the doomsday closet. And despite my natural inclination toward the darker side, I became convinced that I could choose to see the glass as half full. I offer myself as “Exhibit A”—if you want to become an optimist, you can—with a little practice.

I’ve also learned that the more I choose to think and act positively, the better I feel, the better I think and perform—and so on and so on. I might even live longer, as you’ll read in this issue’s feature, “Hold That Good Thought.” There you will find not pie-in-the-sky platitudes but three practical steps to help you replace passive, destructive patterns of thinking with active, constructive responses. These were developed by Martin Seligman, Ph.D., the leading researcher and founder of positive psychology and former head of the American Psychological Association.

My conversion to optimism hits a snag now and then. My old self occasionally listens in and says with a sneer, “That’s a lot of hooey.” But now I tell Old Me to stop raining on my parade, that good research and a lot of smart, funny people—the kind I really like to hang out with—agree with me. I hope you’ll consider the possibilities, too.

‘Til next time,

Susan Flagg Godbey