Optimism; “hopefulness and confidence about the future or successful outcome of something; a tendency to take a favourable or hopeful view.”
Are you an optimist? A glass half full kind of person? I’ll admit I never used to be, up until 18 months or so ago I’d look for the negative side of any situation and fixate on that, ignoring any small glimmer of hope that may be lurking.
So what changed?
I got sick. And stuck. It’s not a great situation, but weary as I was something clicked. I started planning for the future; writing list upon list of things I wanted to do, see and buy. I turned every situation in to a joke and refused to believe that things weren’t ever going to change.
And like magic,
things DID change. In a way they never had (despite my best efforts) over the previous 8 or so years and half hearted attempts at getting better.
That silver lining and never dying belief that some way and some how things were going to change (they could hardly have got worse) made me stronger and more willing to fight. I relished in every achievement and slowly but surely made progress.
I hate to sound preachy, but right now I’m living my dream. The small things I used to take for granted; shopping with friends, picnics in the park, cake with my grandparents, being able to walk, work and ride my bike I appreciate all the more.
I’m no longer ill. Or at least, I am a damn sight better than I have been for years, but there are still situations where this applies.
Work, for example is stress central right now. And for a lot of you dear readers, exams are a big worry.
Take five minutes to take a step back. Take some deep breaths. Make a list of what you want to do when this has passed (and invariably, it will)
and most importantly, no matter how big or small, look for that silver lining. I promise you it is there.
I’m writing this post in conjunction with Paul Smith and the launch of their new fragrance called Optimistic, although to be honest, everything I have written in this post has been waiting to be shared for a while.
I know I shouldn’t dwell, but I cannot believe how much my life has changed for the better, and I truly believe in the power of positive thinking.
To celebrate the launch of the fragrance (for men and women) Paul Smith are running a couple of competitions via their facebook page
Are you an optimist or a pessimist? Do you believe in the power of positive thought?
xxx
Firstly, this is a lovely post and I am very happy to hear you are so happy! 🙂
I’m *trying* to be an optimist. I’m getting there, I think. There is a lot I want to change in my life and, like you, a lot of it came when I got ill a few years back. I still have dark days, but now I have come out the other side of being ill, I can see more clearly how I want to live my life, and reading posts like this makes me want to be the optimist all the more. Inspiring! 🙂 xx
what a great post – I love how you linked your own experiences with the perfume! I try to be an optimist, but it’s hard when you’re ill!!! 🙂 Julia x
Wonderful and encouraging post! I’m definitely a pessimist, or… more of a realist, but I should try harder at being an optimist! 🙂
I’m very much a believer in enjoying the small things in life. Life is so busy nowadays that I think most people forget that it’s not all about the big events and occasions.
I do think that when I’m stressed I naturally incline towards pessimism. Once I’ve got the initial rant out of my system I’m usually alright though – I find things are never so bad when I’m doing them as I’ve built them up in my head to be.
Great to see such a happy post, i think i’m somewhat a glass half empty person still. I’m trying to change my mind set but sometimes I wonder if its stuck that way. Sometimes I think the worlds against me x
… And you deserve to be living your dream babe 😉 I’m defo an optimist; lifes to short!
Love this post xx
I swing between the two in a violent way. Its sad. I’m Gemini, what more do I need to say.
I def believe in power of positive thoughts and unfortunately negative thoughts. We must be careful not attract negative things to ourselves. I am so glad you are a more positive happy person now.
♡
I’m glad to see you’ve regained your optimism 🙂
I’d love to say I am optimistic but my mood changes so much, sometimes I’m optimistic, other times pessimistic. Although I prefer the term realistic! I suppose I do always expect the worst to happen.. :S
Bhav x
Amazing post hun – I love your blog as you always seem so optimistic and upbeat in all of your posts xxx
I haven’t been optimistic for as long as I can remember, my mum especially gets very frustrated with me that I see the negative in everything.
I’m going through a bad thing at the moment, illness or whatever, as I think I’ve mentioned before, and I find it really hard to be positive. But I find making lists helps, and trying to think about the future even when it’s hard. Xx
I definitely believe in the power of positive thought! I always look on the bright side of situations, even if this means being blindly naive to the reality…!
Great post Laura. Happy to hear that being optimistic made such a difference. I think I’m a bit of both. Days were no-one and nothing can kill the optimism and other days when I feel like a little bundle of negativity. But its always much more pleasant to be optimistic. 🙂 x