5 STRATEGIES TO CULTIVATE OPTIMISM IN CRISIS TIMES 

"Attitude is a choice. Happiness is a choice. Optimism is a choice. Kindness is a choice. Giving is a choice. Respect is a choice. Whatever choice you make makes you. Choose wisely." ― Roy T. Bennett.

 

It is hard to remain optimistic in a world full of fear, ambiguity, uncertainty and stress. With the pandemic, we all face our fears, fear of being sick, fear of our close ones being sick, fear of keeping our jobs and so on. It is not an easy period to go through. If you struggle to stay optimistic, I hope that this article might help.

According to Psychology Today, "optimism is the belief that outcomes of events or experiences will generally be positive."

Positive Psychology tells us that optimism is best when it keeps the realities of life under consideration. A balanced optimist believes in succeeding because they have self-belief and know that they have the skills to succeed. However, when an optimist fails, she looks on the bright side and learns a lesson. An optimist would think they found a learning opportunity in the failure and now know what works and what doesn't. To get into this state of mind, you can cultivate optimism by keeping some of the following strategies in mind: 

Appreciation and Gratitude:

Gratitude begins from within oneself. Simple things like acknowledging that you have a house to live in, have clothes to wear, having a beating heart is the way to start. This might seem very simple to do, but having gratitude for little things in life, such as your friends, family, house, and health, goes a long way. 

Giving yourself a perspective that you have all the basic things you need and all you would be an extra benefit is cultivating an optimistic mindset. Start by being grateful for everything you have and considering anything else an added bonus. 

Feeding your Positivity: 

The positive news is the one that generally doesn't make the front pages. Therefore, it's vital to nourish your optimism and maintain it as there is a direct link in what you read, see and interact with. 

If you find yourself sinking deep into the negativity, find positive people in your life, find activities to do that you like, and visit places you want, usually spending time in nature helps. It is very easy to fall down a rabbit hole, especially online, where you have so much unchecked and unverified information. 

If you interact with positive people and positive news, you will likely see a spike in your optimism. 

Acceptance and Making Peace:

Start with acceptance. Accepting that there will be good times and bad times. It is impossible to be positive and see the good in things all the time. It is realistic to recognize that some days you might not make any progress. You have to accept that certain things always have a possibility of going wrong, and you might not perform very well on certain days. Part of being a balanced optimist is to agree that things will not be perfect; however, this acceptance will bring peace to you. 

By releasing that negativity, it allows you to move on without holding any grudge. It naturally frees your mind and enables you to think about the next stage. Instead of sulking and regretting, you start to think, "Okay, what is in my control, and how can I move past this negativity?" you start thinking about what to do next. 

Reflection:

When you feel like you need a dose of optimism, reflect back on your wins and take a look at how far you have come. It could be reflecting back on last week, last month, last year or even a decade. Focus on your wins and give a pat to yourself to making it to today. Appreciate what you have earned.   

Knowing that you matter:

Keep in mind that you are a change-maker; you can create a positive impact in this world. You are a helping people, and you are helping the planet. You matter. When you believe you can help and improve things around, you already got that optimism. When you acknowledge that only one unique human is like you and you are who you are with all your past experiences and things you have gone through in life and you have a way of bringing positivity to other people's life you relive that optimism. 

What attributes help you keep your optimism? Let us know by sending us an email at info@flowcoachinginstitute.com . 

Let's keep our heads high as we try to get past the pandemic and the stress surrounding the pandemic. Together we can make a collective impact on society.