For as long as I can remember, because of my unbridled and optimistic approach to life, people have accused of me being a Pollyanna! After thinking on this for quite some time, I looked the term up in the dictionary and found what Merriam-Webster had to say,“a person characterized by irrepressible optimism and a tendency to find good in everything”.

 

Why wouldn’t I want to be a Pollyanna then?

 

What amazes me is how uncomfortable people have been with this sense of positivity and optimism. I’ve Been met with countless eye rolls, looks of sympathy and cynical snort dismissing me as naïve, weak or oblivious to reality. It never seems to occur to them that I choose to be hopeful and confident in my expectations of favorable outcomes. And, by making that choice, I am also mitigating the drama, tension, stress and confusion that less optimistic folks unintentionally exude.

 

Still think being a Pollyanna isnaïve?

 

Turns out that being optimistic not only makes living more fun, but it also increases your life expectancy! As explored in “Kindling The Flame-The Art and Science of Cognitive Replenishment”
(Sherman 2017, LOA Publishing), a Mayo Clinic study found that individuals with a pessimistic outlook were 19% more likely to die than their optimistic counterparts. People who see good outcomes can navigate the uncomfortable and unexpected twists and turns of life with grace and resilience. Those who intently focus on negativity forego the elevated levels of thinking required to generate the fresh solutions needed to grow and thrive.

 

There’s something my inner Pollyanna has learned, and I will be bold enough to share it with you.

 

A few of the people who have mocked me (noticeably or to themselves) over the years, have admitted that they are in fact secretly a tinsy bit jealous. If nothing else, they admire the sense of joy, positive outcomes often commenting about my luck or make other excuses as to why good things continue to happen to me. When asked how I am on most given days, I can sincerely respond with a resounding, Good!Thank you!

That answer stems from a daily gratitude for the warm shower,healthy food and caring people I interact with. What the skeptics don’t witness is that the same negative situations are presented to me, life does not discriminate and no one “has it all”. There are times when I get a flat tire, argue with my spouse, misunderstand my daughter,send out an email before completing- Oops! or run late for important meetings just like everyone else in the world.

The difference is that I ultimately choose to see each of those situations as an opportunity to master my response to life and exercise my positive imagination. I find something of value in each of them. By refocusing myself on what I’m learning I am instantly turning something negative into something positive and freeing myself up to have a magnificent day.

 

One final thought about being a Proud Pollyanna is that as a Life and Executive Coach I have seen that even skeptics can appropriately express their inner Pollyanna once they understood the benefits. When that occur on a broader basis I am thrilled to see how ourworld will change. On that day the gentle power of optimism will no longer need to prove itself.