Optimism+Benefits+Your+Life

= Optimism Benefits Your Life =

__ Thesis Statement __
People who practice optimism in their lives enjoy personal fulfillment, better health, and have a positive impact on society.

__Research Questions__

 * 1) How does an optimist's attitude compare with a pessimist's attitude?
 * 2) What effect does optimism have on overall health?
 * 3) To what extent are optimists content and satisfied with life?
 * 4) How can a person embrace optimism to make the world a better place?

** __Research Process Reflection__ ** When beginning research on a topic, it can be difficult to know where to begin. So doing some pearl growing, some general searches looking for other subject headings and synonyms is helpful. This can go in the other direction of having too much information and spending hours going through all the keywords in various databases, getting overwhelmed. I had to return my focus to my basic topic, keywords, controlled vocabulary, and look in scholarly databases. What was particularly helpful was watching a couple YouTube EDU videos on my topic to get a feel for two opposing viewpoints. Then I looked up the authors’ books and read their summaries and tables of contents. Reading popular news articles on my topic was useful as background information to help me understand how it was relevant to people today, as was looking at various psychological association websites. Things I considered before selecting a resource as useful regarding my topic: was it scholarly, does the author have credentials, was it peer reviewed, was it current information, was the language understandable to me, and was it relevant. I will continue to approach research in this same manner, however, I will look for opposing viewpoints earlier in the process since I understood the topic better after hearing two sides. I did not even know there was an opposing viewpoint until I accidentally found it in the journal articles. Now that I know my way around databases, in the future I hope it will take less time to narrow down the topic I wish to research. A final thought, I like the concept of the Information Cycle, that topics have a history and a future. I thought I chose a very modern topic and found it to have a history. It was interesting to find an essay written on the subject over one hundred years ago. Those are the nuggets we find along the way.

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** __Topic Introduction__ ** Cultivating optimism in one’s life is a great way to live. Results may include happiness, health, joy, hopefulness, confidence, and an all-around feeling of good will and peace. Optimism gives one a reason to get up in the morning, a cheerful disposition at work, an amiable countenance in the company of others, and a desire to be of good service to the world. On the other hand, what about those serious dilemmas in life? What does one do with a job loss, a loss of a loved one, a poor medical diagnosis, a tragic accident? Will an optimistic outlook make it better, ease the pain, help the bad news go away? These are questions to be considered in our daily living. Is optimism foolish? Or is it a powerful choice a person can make in his or her life, to live on his own terms, play to her own strengths, to keep trying no matter what the odds.

__Annotated Bibliography__
Seligman, M.E.P. (2002). //Authentic Happiness: Using the New Positive Psychology to Realize Your Potential for Lasting Fulfillment.// New York: Free Press/Simon and Schuster.

This book, written by the founder of Positive Psychology, is about focusing on what is right with us instead of what is wrong. Dr. Seligman, who has written twenty books, takes a scientific approach to researching what we can do to be happy in life. Happiness can be achieved through voluntarily behavior within our control by engaging in intentional activities. The general public and professionals alike can benefit from reading this and using the practical self-tests and exercises. The book is available at public libraries.

Soliah, LuAnn Laurice. "The Role of Optimism Regarding Nutrition and Health Behavior." //American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine// 5.1 (2011): 63-68. //Electronic Journal Center//. Web. 29 Apr. 2011.

This article discusses the overwhelming benefits of optimism on mental and physical health. It is a review of studies that have shown how psychological factors motivate a person. Just as good nutrition is beneficial to our health, so are secondary behavioral factors such as optimism. She cites scholarly studies, with the intent to inform health professionals where optimism fits in to a person’s care. Professionals can take into account how likely a patient is to follow dietary advice based on their level of optimistic disposition. Differences between optimism and pessimism are discussed. The summary of health benefits is useful to the general public. It is available through the Electronic Journal Center.

 Sweeny, Kate, Patrick J. Carroll, and James A. Shepperd. "Is Optimism Always Best?: Future Outlooks and Preparedness." // Current Directions in Psychological Science // 15.6 (2006): 302-306. //Electronic Journal Center//. Web. 29 Apr. 2011.

This article offers an opposing viewpoint that optimism is not always necessary. A healthy dose of realism can help a person stay on task and be prepared for whatever comes his or her way in life. A sense of caution may be necessary to face uncertainty. The author references scholarly works, and writes for a scholarly or general audience. The article is not extremely in-depth, but it does inform us and raise questions for future study such as how do these issues vary cross-culturally? Or how do children learn about holding different outlooks on life? This article is available through the Electronic Journal Center.

= = [|Breaking Murphy's Law: How Optimists Get What They Want from Life - and Pessimists Can Too] __ [] __

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