The “can-do” approach to life

Optimism rules.

Believe it or not, there is serious scientific evidence that optimism (and pessimism) affect health and well-being almost as clearly as do the physical factors we pay so much attention to (exercise, diet, sleep.)

So, wait. For vibrant health we have to walk around like Pollyannas ignoring all the bad stuff and the crazy people and the chaos and sing happy little songs to ourselves and answer, it’s all good, man, to any question asked? Because, folks, that ain’t how I roll.

Happily the “rose-colored glasses,” “oh-blah-di-oh-blah-da” attitude toward life is not the definition of optimism. It is the definition of “naïveté.”

Here’s a much better definition: Optimists believe good things may happen, they have a chance of happening — and that they personally have significant control over that process. They have confidence that what they do (or don’t do) matters. Pessimists, on the other hand, often feel helpless and passive, the victims of circumstance.

At the root of optimism is what’s known in psychological circles as self-efficacy: “a person’s belief in his or her ability to solve problems, handle situation, meet challenges and otherwise influence the course of events.” This do-can approach, this I-am-the-author-of-my-own-life philosophy has been linked to lower blood pressure, a stronger immune system, fewer and less severe diseases of middle age, a significantly lower risk of dying from coronary disease, faster healing after surgery, and generally a longer, healthier life.

Why would that be?

The answer, like everything else about us, is wonderfully complex, a combination of the psychological, behavioral, biological and social. Here’s the way I understand it:. You’d think that people who expect good things to happen to them would sit back and wait for them to happen, but that’s not what optimists do. Optimists, in fact, seize the day. They take steps to ensure that good things will (or can) happen to them. They are far more likely to practice healthy behaviors and to seek treatment for problems than pessimists. Optimists are also far more likely to have the social support networks that researchers have found correlate with long-term good health.

All that seems pretty commonsensical to me. Now here’s where it gets very interesting: Optimists are also different biochemically than pessimists. Feeling overwhelmed, helpless and depressed? Feeling that way a lot of the time because you figure you are the mercy of the fates? Apparently, your brain is busy sending chemical messages to your body, and they’re not love letters. One of the not-love-letters is cortisol, the so-called stress hormone. Overexposure to cortisol is like an express train to the nursing home.

That’s not exactly how the docs at the Mayo Clinic put it. But when they list increased risk of heart disease, obesity, memory impairment, sleep problems and digestive disorders as potential fall-out from chronic exposure to cortisol, that’s pretty much what they’re saying. Optimists, when stressed, produce cortisol too, but their response is muted and transient.

The single most important optimistic message I’ve gotten lately is from a simple statement often repeated in my Barre3 class: “There are always modifications.” To me this means: You can always find a way to succeed. Regardless of who you are or what your circumstance or what your current challenges, you have the power to make it work for you. Whatever “it” is at that moment. You are in control. You make your life happen. This is the essence of self-efficacy. Which is a cornerstone of optimism, which is the foundation to a healthy and vibrant life.

So, yeah, optimism rules.