Happy life

In society, life goes too fast. The importance of how much money we make and what we do to make the money is more important at times than how we feel about what goes on around us. Our well-being and the way we view situations should be as important as other factors in our lives. Optimism and pessimism affects our own well beings.

When looking at life and situations, there are good and bad to be seen. Optimists are people that believe good things happen and are likely to happen (Schneider,2012 ). When people believe that good things happen, they have different opinions on how the world is around them. Instead of letting things come to them, they are more likely to pursue the goals that they wish to achieve (Schneider,2012 ). There are also people in the world that are called pessimists. A pessimist is a person that doubts that good things will happen (Schneider,2012 ). They will not pursue goals often because they do not believe that they have good chances of obtaining their goals.

When considering the impacts of being an optimist or a pessimist, one should understand how being either would impact their lives. It is important for people to be in good health and have good life experiences. These factors could cause one to live longer and have a better well-being. Optimists are more likely to enjoy life and have good health because they are happy with their lives (Schneider,2012). With that being said, they are also more likely to have a positive well-beings.

Throughout my life, I have always tried to look at the good in situations and hope for the best. When starting college in particular, I thought that I wanted to be an elementary school teacher. After realizing that I did not want to do this any longer, I had decided to switch to another major. While I was aware that I may not do well in this, I was optimistic that this was the best choice and that I would do well. While being optimistic, I have become more positive about life and done better at my school work. I also have become more excited about my future and want to work hard because knowing I can do well in school allows me to realize that I can to well in the future.

Optimism and pessimism has an effect on people’s well-being. While there are times where people think that things are going bad and feel like there is no reason to look up, people should look at the good in situations. When people are optimistic, they are more likely to be happy and have a better well-being.

References:

Schneider, F. W., Gruman, J. A., and Coutts, L. M. (Eds.) (2012). Applied Social Psychology: Understanding and Addressing Social and Practical Problems (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

3 comments

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    Happy life | Applied Social Psychology (ASP)

  2. Lauren Mary Albertson

    I have to agree with your view on optimism about life. I was the epitome of a complete and total “worrier” since I was a little kid. I remember as a child constantly worrying about the future whether that was next weeks project or what my grades would be for the end of the year. Worrying in such a manner began to cause far more stress than children should ever be putting on themselves. I think this attitude really developed both from a perfectionistic personality to the way teachers were always preparing me for the next thing instead of focusing on the here and now. I remember preparing for middle school while in elementary and high school while I was still in middle school, and then of course preparing for college throughout high school. Everything was always about the future, and I began to live for the future instead of the here and now. My entire view on life changed after a pretty severe medical emergency five or so years back. I quite literally thought I would not make it, and when I did I began looking at life much differently. A sense of being perfect was not needed anymore, and walking slow to enjoy the beautiful weather rain or shine became more important than rushing to my next destination. I know it is hard for people of any age to grasp just how short and unpredictable life is, but I am thankful to have a new sense of optimism about what is really important in life.

  3. There are various theories about life where a person seems to live and enjoy himself or herself or doesn’t do much “living” and doesn’t seem to experience much enjoyment – both rely largely in part to a state of being influenced by perception. This perception of how life should be lived seems like a standard that has the capacity to conflict with how people choose to live. This perception can also be manipulated.

    Look at societies, you would think they are made up of various personalities or are they sort of similar? They start out as cliques and in-groups that grow into neighbors and neighborhoods. Outwardly we try to live up to what is expected of us, using social norms as guidelines, but privately we’ll seek out to do what makes us happy. Who we gravitate to whether at work or at school, at a place of worship, or at places where people gather socially (bars, sporting events), even online – going “against the grain” so to speak causes everyone who is walking in the same direction and wearing the same “happy costume” to stop and stare and look at you.

    I believe true happiness comes in accepting the state of being a person has become. Some people don’t want to change and believe they can’t – some people don’t try and some people for various factors simply can not change. Being happy poor can differ from someone who is rich and miserable. Who is optimistic and pessimistic there?

    Think of people with terminal illnesses, or no education, those that suffer poverty – how they measure success to their own standards, accomplishing or not accomplishing goals, can result from the acceptance of a positive or negative outlook on life – or both. Since societies can be judgmental, I believe the sum of all parts – the recycling of repressed and digested emotions and faked feelings, using “emotional intelligence” to uphold rules and statuses, that accept and reject some members cause this facade.

    Societies are created, just like lives. But a society is more than one person. Happiness can be faked. Smiles, hearty laughs, a concerned pitch, a pleasant tone. Authenticity, originality, and genuine care are what shape societies and correct complacent systems that do little to help anyone other that the reformed. Then again they can serve to promote change in the lives of those that are rebuked as the collective like-minded that cast out the ones that lack to produce what is expected from its members as it looks on watching him and her, and judging.

    Life has many variables that can cause someone to differ in their optimism or defeatist views. What could make someone happy depends on their definition of the term. It’s like love, it also has various meanings – shifting views into a different embodiment.

    When considering the positives and negatives of life, and the balance of how we deal with daily stress – being optimistic has been proven to be beneficial to the host as stress not dealt with in a positive manner can cause additional stress. If we were to factor outside forces – both the ones we allow and can control, and the uncontrollable ones that we can not control – how we allow those forces outside of ourselves a place in our lives, as members of a society, is what we in turn exclude or include into our lives daily.

    As applied social psychologists in the making, or even for a course – we could absorb a lot from the course material, learning about the theories and interventions we look to prove or disprove, implementing control and methods that work for us. And as we evaluate we examine, like life, knowing how one state isn’t so much interchangeable but consists and can either coexist or not depending on the denial of a negative emotion and choosing it’s counterpart, a positive one instead.

    As easy as it may seem or as vague as it may sound, depending on personalities, and numerous other circumstances – being happy is a skill and a way of living learned.

    Good post, such a simple concept as optimism made me think.

    For additional “food for thought” the YouTube video below actually terms different lives. It is interested to hear how different but alike we all are – we would all like to be happy but it’s easier written and said than actually actualized.

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