When I was in my 20’s, I started wearing glasses. This wasn’t such a bad thing because I figured my eyeglass frames would be one more way in which I could express my personality. And so I chose opaque pink (yes, pink) frames. My friends and family weren’t surprised. When seeing me for the first time in my new glasses, invariably the comment was something like, “Yup, not surprised! You look at life through rose-colored glasses!”
I took this as a compliment because I believe that optimism and positivity are good things. And guess what? Research has proven me right! (I love it when I’m right!) Many studies have repeatedly shown that people with an optimistic perspective enjoy many personal benefits including:
-better mental health
-better physical health
-greater resilience
-healthier relationships
– And my personal favorite, optimists age better!
Some of you may be thinking that optimism is just unrealistic thinking and naivety, especially given the uncertain world of health care and the vexing challenges we face. While it’s true that blind optimism could result in overconfidence and might make us miss or deny information that would otherwise help us make good decisions, healthy optimism is good for us, and good for the people who work with us.