Optimism has been proven to improve the immune system, prevent chronic disease, and help people cope with unfortunate news.

“a pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty” Winston Churchill

Gratitude is associated with optimism and has been determined that grateful people are happier, receive more social support, are less stressed, and are less depressed.

Recent research indicates that optimists and pessimists approach problems differently, and their ability to cope successfully with adversity differs as a result.

Martin Seligman defines optimism as

“reacting to problems with a sense of confidence and high personal ability”.

Specifically, optimistic people believe that negative events are temporary, limited in scope (instead of pervading every aspect of a person’s life), and manageable. Of course, optimism, like other psychological states and characteristics, exists on a continuum. People can also change their levels of optimism depending on the situations they are in.