Want Long Life And Prosperity, According To Research: Be Optimistic

Illustration of being optimistic for a long life and prosperity (Freepik/andreas)

YOGYAKARTA With optimistic thinking, one tends to see the bright side of everything. The valuable reward for the mind is associated with better health outcomes, longer life, and more complete cognition. According to research, women who get higher scores of optimism live an average of 5.4 percent longer. This means a longer 4.4 years of age, citing research conducted in 2022. In men, it also experiences the same thing, which finds that optimism is beneficial for a long life.

As we age, a person has a cognitive ability to decline. But more optimisticly, we tend to have thoughts that live with age. Citing the explanation of clinical psychologist and psychoanalysis Kurt Ela, Psy.D., the cognitive triangle refers to feelings, thoughts, and actions related to each other. Changing one of the three to be more positive will improve the other.

Ela reported by Psychology Today, Friday, August 4, gave an example of pessimistic thinking like I may fail this test'' will make you anxious and desperate. The behavior that follows may be very less confident in completing answers and only half-hearted in trying. By changing my mind I'm afraid it will fail this test, but I've prepared myself as well as possible, and in fact never got a failed value can change feelings and improve motivation in doing better. So it can fill answers with confidence and good performance. This is one of the many ways optimism can work on everyone.

Even small changes can improve a person's quality of life and spirit. Extensively, researchers see which behavior helps optimistic thinking. The results are not completely surprising because you may have understood before. That getting enough sleep is enough, reading for pleasure, exercising, being in nature, spirituality in any form, and meditation, all of which can help us feel better and live longer. As professor Catherine Sanderson wrote in 2019 in the book The Positive Shift, wrote Change your behavior and your mindset will follow.

Through the explanation above, it can be understood that optimistic thinking can affect behavior and feelings. If you look at a glimmer of hope with optimistic thinking and realizing it with behavior, then feelings will be lighter in achieving your goals.