Today’s world is full of worry. You might very well describe this period as the most worrying time in history. It’s easy to become pessimistic.
In reality, life is not only doom and gloom. There are more positive things to consider than negatives. But what happens is, we often take the good things for granted and emphasize the negative aspects.
That’s why it rests on everyone individually to help themselves and others to feel better.
Is there any benefit to remaining optimistic, especially for children?
These benefits can help you put things in perspective:
1. Optimistic people understand their health and how to remain healthy. Good health hangs on knowledge. A person who knows how to keep himself healthy becomes healthier than those who remain ignorant of how to take care of themselves.
- In a study conducted in 2002 by Nathan Radcliffe, he discovered that optimistic people knew more about heart attacks than their pessimistic counterparts.
- He uncovered that optimistic people knew why they occurred and the risky critical habits that could cause them to experience a heart attack.
- This research encourages parents to develop optimism in their children early.
2. Optimistic people live longer than pessimists. The University of Pittsburgh conducted a study on almost 100,000 women. The study revealed that in 8 years, optimistic people had a lower chance of dying from virtually all causes than their pessimistic counterparts.
- The point is, a person who expects to live longer has a better chance of achieving that goal.
- How can this information help parents? Parents can help their kids develop a positive outlook and live longer.
3. They go through less stress. A Quebec’s Concordia University study discovered that optimistic people produce less cortisol when they experience stress.
- Since cortisol is the stress hormone, this study suggests that optimistic people can handle stress better than pessimists. If you know any optimists, you can see that they cope with stress more efficiently. They don’t worry about every little thing.
- When a child learns optimism, they can also deal with stress better.
4. An optimistic person adapts better. The truth is, it isn’t the events we go through that determine our emotional state. It’s how we react to the situation we go through. In other words, negative events don’t necessarily make us depressed.
- It’s how we deal with them that determines our total experience. If we experience a terrible event and can remain positive in its face, then we will be able to overcome any new challenge or bad incident that comes our way.
- An optimistic child will be better able to cope with negative situations than a child who feels that life is negative.
5. They experience better relationships. Positive people are more fun to be with than pessimistic people. Many studies have shown that optimists work well with others in their workplace and beyond. Socializing with an optimistic person makes us happier.
- A University of Oregon test revealed how happy couples are because of the spouse’s optimism. They found that it didn’t matter which spouse was optimistic. If either partner or both people were optimistic, the relationship became a source of increased happiness.
- Parents can instill positive traits in their children by setting up an excellent example and encouraging them to remain optimistic.
- The bottom line is that optimism leads to stronger physical and emotional health. It benefits both the optimistic person as well as those around him.
The benefits of optimism are even more significant for children whose parents can help develop a positive outlook at an early age.
There are so many benefits of being optimistic, especially for children. We all must make a conscious effort to think positively and help our kids develop an optimistic outlook and behavior.