Spring Has Sprung!
I spent some time outside today, enjoying the second consecutive day of sunshine and warm temperatures. Though it is the end of May, this has been a rarity in our neck of the woods. As I sat absorbing the warmth, enjoying the sunlight, and looking at the finally in bloom flowers, I began to think about the symbolism of spring. Across cultures and religions, spring clearly represents a time of healing, renewed energy, rebirth and new beginnings. I stumbled upon an article, Capture That Springtime Optimism, which highlighted the pervasiveness of these shared meanings. I began thinking about how that sense of personal commitment can be sustained, not only through the pleasant times of spring, but during the oftentimes draining journeys through winter as well. What differentiates those who can sustain a more even, peaceful existence from those who ride the roller coaster of negative emotions?
In my work as a psychologist, I collaborate to assist people in developing meaningful, tangible and sustainable goals. I do believe that there are elements of positive psychology that help to explain the distinction between those who persist in working toward their goals and those who do not. One such element is optimism, found to have a significant impact on human behavior, including getting sick less often, recovering from illness more quickly, and living longer. I have found that optimism can be built and is tied to the concepts of permanence and pervasiveness. Pessimistic people believe bad events are permanent, such as “People are always against me,” whereas optimistic people might think, “he disagrees with my idea, which is ok.” Using qualifiers for negative events, such as “sometimes” or “lately,” instead of “always” or “never” builds optimism and is also very consistent with evidence based approaches to relieve depression and anxiety. The opposite applies to positive events, such as “I am always lucky”or “things definitely work to my good.”
The second element, pervasiveness, has to do with keeping problems in perspective. For pessimists, if there is one pull in the sweater the entire thing unravels. To protect against this, it helps to have a specific explanation for negative events. For example, it is better to say, “I can’t seem to communicate clearly with my sister,” than, “No one ever listens to me, no one cares what I think.”
Overall, there were many elements that I enjoyed about this article (link below). Those of you who have read my more current blogs would not be surprised to see that I enjoyed the piece of the article discussing the shared meaning of spring across cultures and religions. And, equally not surprising I suppose, is the fact that I appreciate the link made between the optimism of spring and the foundations of psychology. What I believe is missing from this piece is the role of persistence and consistency. In our society, there seems to a value placed on the quick fix. Evidence of this is seen in the now $10 billion self help industry in which people are sold the next latest and greatest solution, packaged in the best selling books, weekend workshops, or online courses or podcasts. It strikes me of late that this industry thrives based on providing us with more, and more…and more…of the latest and greatest information. The issue is that information isn’t the issue. In fact there is enough self help information to kill us! What we need, in fact, are the tools to meaningfully make sense of and use the information persistently and consistently for the long haul. It is here that I spend my days, honored to work with people as they uncover their life’s meaning and the steps needed to live that meaning to its fullest everyday.
https://psychcentral.com/lib/capture-that-springtime-optimism/
Comments
Spring Has Sprung! — No Comments
HTML tags allowed in your comment: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <s> <strike> <strong>