A Richer Life by Seeing the Glass Half Full
受用乐观主义

The definition of an optimist: Someone, like me, who plans to get more done than time permits.

所谓乐观主义者，是这样的一个人： 他计划做许多事情，哪怕时间不允许，比如像我。

Or, having failed to achieve the impossible, someone, like me, who is sure everything will somehow get done anyway.

或者：在尝试一件不可能做到的事情失败之后，他仍然坚信，事情总会有解决的办法，比如像我。

A more classical definition from the Mayo Clinic: “Optimism is the belief that good things will happen to you and that negative events are temporary setbacks to be overcome.”

关于乐观主义，梅奥诊所（Mayo Clinic）给出了一个更经典的定义：“乐观就是相信好事终究会发生在你身上，而所有的坏事都只是暂时的困难，总有一天会克服。

In one study, adults shown to be pessimists based on psychological tests had higher death rates over a 30-year period than those who were shown optimistic. No doubt, the optimists were healthier because they were more inclined to take good care of themselves.

一项研究表明，经心理测试为悲观主义的成年人，在以后30年中的死亡率，比乐观主义者更高。毫无疑问，乐观主义者比较健康是因为他们更倾向于好好照顾自己。 

Unlike Voltaire’s Candide, I’ve yet to be stripped of my optimism, though there are clearly forces in this country and the world that could subdue even the most ardent optimist.

在这个世界上，国家里，有太多的力量会彻底改变哪怕是最热情的乐观主义者，然而，我并没有像伏尔泰笔下的“老实人”，我还保留着最后一份乐观。

I am a realist, after all, and I do fret over things I may be able to do little or nothing about directly: economic injustice; wars and the repeated failure to learn from history; our gun-crazy society; the overreliance on tests to spur academic achievement; and attempts to strip women of their reproductive rights.

毕竟，我也是个现实主义者，遇到自己能力有限或无能为力的事情，我也会闷闷不乐，比如，经济上的不公平、战争、人们一次次地忘记历史教训、我们这个枪支泛滥的社会、教育中对考试的过分依赖，还有社会试图剥夺女性的生育权利。

But I’ve found that life is a lot more pleasant when one looks at the bright side, seeing the glass half full and assuming that reason will eventually prevail.

但是我发现，生活可以变得美好，只要我们能看到光明的一面，看到杯子里还有半杯水，并相信理智终会胜利。

Not Just About Being Positive

不仅仅是积极心态

Murphy’s Law — “Anything that can go wrong will go wrong” — is the antithesis of optimism. In a book called “Breaking Murphy’s Law,” Suzanne C. Segerstrom, a professor of psychology at the University of Kentucky, explained that optimism is not about being positive so much as it is about being motivated and persistent.

墨菲定律说，“任何事情，如果它有可能出问题，那么它迟早会出问题。”这与乐观主义正好相反。肯塔基大学的心理学教授苏珊·赛格斯特伦（Suzanne C. Segerstrom）在一本叫做《打破墨菲定律》的书中说，乐观，最主要的不是保持积极心态，更多的是要有动力，并坚持不懈。

Dr. Segerstrom and other researchers have found that rather than giving up and walking away from difficult situations, optimists attack problems head-on. They plan a course of action, getting advice from others and staying focused on solutions. Whenever my husband, a dyed-in-the-wool pessimist, said, “It can’t be done,” I would seek a different approach and try harder — although I occasionally had to admit he was right.

赛格斯特伦和其他研究学者发现，乐观主义者遇到困难并不会放弃或者逃避，而是直面困难，迎难而上。他们制定行动方案，听取别人的建议，并集中精力解决问题。每次我那个彻底悲观主义的丈夫说“没有办法”的时候， 我总是换一个方法，更努力地去尝试，虽然我承认，有时候他说对了。

Dr. Segerstrom wrote that when faced with uncontrollable stressors, optimists tend to react by building “existential resources” — for example, by looking for something good to come out of the situation or using the event to grow as a person in a positive way.

赛格斯特伦写道，遇到不可控制的压力时，乐观主义者的反应会倾向于建构“既存资源”，比如，从现状里寻找好的结果，或者利用不利事件，转化为积极成长的动力。

I was 16 when my mother died of cancer. Rather than dwell on the terrible void her death left in my life, I managed to gain value from the experience. I learned to apply her lifelong frugality more constructively, living each day as if it could be my last, but with a focus on the future in case it wasn’t.

16岁时，我的母亲死于癌症。我没有沉浸在她的去世留下的痛苦中，而是想办法从这段经历中汲取有价值的东西。我学着用更积极的方式发扬她一生的节俭习惯，把每一天都当做是生命的最后一天来过，同时也不忘关注未来，只要还有明天。

Yes, I saved, but I also chose not to postpone for some nebulous future the things I wanted to do and could, if I tried hard, find a way to do now. And I adopted a very forthright approach to life, believing that if I wanted something badly enough, I could probably overcome the odds against me.

是的，我也攒钱。但是，我不会把那些特别想做而且只要努力也可以马上去做的事情推到不知何年何月的未来。我养成了一种直截了当的生活态度，相信只要是自己很想得到的东西，我都可能克服重重困难去实现。

When I applied at age 24 for a job as a science writer at The New York Times, an interviewer said I was foolhardy to think I could be hired after just two years of newspaper experience. “If I didn’t think I could do the job, I wouldn’t be here,” I told him.

24岁时，我去《纽约时报》应聘做的科技类记者。当时一位面试官说，如果我认为仅凭两年报社工作经验就会被录用的话，那就太傻了。我对他说：“如果我认为自己不能做这份工作，我也就不来了。”

It turned out to be just what he wanted to hear, and I was hired. Since what I loved most was researching and writing articles that could help people better understand science and medicine, I stayed focused on my goals and declined opportunities to move up in the organization by becoming an editor.

结果，这正是他想要听到的。我被录用了。我最喜欢的，就是做研究，写文章帮助人们更好地理解科技和医学，因此我一直坚持自己的目标，并拒绝了升迁为编辑的机会。

Research has indicated that a propensity toward optimism is strongly influenced by genes, most likely ones that govern neurotransmitters in the brain. Still, the way someone is raised undoubtedly plays a role, too. Parents who bolster children’s self-esteem by avoiding criticism and praising accomplishments, however meager, can encourage in them a lifelong can-do attitude.

研究显示，乐观倾向主要受基因影响，很可能就是大脑中控制神经递质的基因。但是，成长经历毫无疑问也有关系。父母如果对孩子采取表扬而避免批评的教育方式，不管是多么微小的成功都予以表扬，这样就会有助于增强孩子的自尊，帮助他们在一生中建立起“我能”的心态。

With the right guidance, many of the attributes of optimism also can be learned by adults, Dr. Segerstrom and other researchers have found.

赛格斯特伦医生和其他研究人员发现，加以正确引导的话，乐观主义的许多特质成年人也可以习得。

Noting that it is easier to change behavior than emotions, she eschews the popular saying “Don’t worry, be happy.” Instead, she endorses a form of cognitive behavioral therapy: Act first and the right feelings will follow. As she puts it in her book, “Fake it until you make it.”

她不赞同“别烦恼，要开心”这句流行的说法，强调改变行为比改变情绪要容易。相反， 她支持一种认知行为学疗法：“先行动起来，感觉会跟着好起来”。在她的书里，赛格斯特伦医生这样写道：“假装的久了，就会变成真的。”

She wrote, “People can learn to be more optimistic by acting as if they were more optimistic,” which means “being more engaged with and persistent in the pursuit of goals.”

她写道：“通过佯装乐观的行动，人们可以逐渐学会乐观，”这也就是说，“在追求目标时要更加专注更加坚持。”

If you behave more optimistically, you will be likely to keep trying instead of giving up after an initial failure. “You might succeed more than you expected,” she wrote. Even if the additional effort is not successful, it can serve as a positive learning experience, suggesting a different way to approach a similar problem the next time.

如果你的行为是积极乐观的，那么在第一次失败后， 你就更有可能会继续坚持，而不是选择放弃。“你可能会获得超过预期的成功，”她写到。即便后来的努力失败了，这也能成为一次积极的学习经历，让你知道，下次遇到同样的事情，可以换一种方式去做。

Framing Your Thoughts

形成正面思维习惯

It’s important not to neglect the power of positive thinking. Both Dr. Segerstrom and the Mayo researchers recommend taking a few minutes at the end of each day to write down three positive things that happened that day, ending the day on an upbeat note.

一定不要忽视积极思维的力量。赛格斯特伦医生和梅奥的研究学者都建议，每天结束时，花几分钟记下当天发生的三件有积极意义的事，让每一天都有一个乐观向上的收尾。

The Mayo researchers offered these additional suggestions:

此外，梅奥的研究学者还给出了如下建议：

Avoid negative self-talk. Instead of focusing on prospects of failure, dwell on the positive aspects of a situation.

避免负面的暗示。遇事要往好的方面想，而不要只是担心会遭到失败。

In college, I would approach every exam, even those I had barely studied for, with the thought that I was going to do well. Time after time, this turned out to be a self-fulfilling prophecy.

大学每一次考试时，不管我是否努力学习过，我都会想着自己能够考好。时间久了，这就变成一种自我实现的预言。

Regardless of the nature of your work, identify some aspect of it that is personally fulfilling. If your job is scrubbing floors, stand back and admire how shiny and clean they look.

不管你做的是什么工作，都从中找到对你来说有成就感的方面。如果你的工作是擦地板，那么就后退一步，欣赏一下你擦出来的地板有多么光洁吧。

Surround yourself with positive, upbeat people. But be aware that if you are chronically negative and always see only the dark side of things, the optimists in your life may eventually give up on you.

让自己常与积极向上的人相处。但要记住，如果你长期怀有消极情绪，总是看到事情不好的一面，最后，你生活中那些乐观主义者终究会对你无可奈何。

Focus on situations that you can control, and forget those you can’t. I would also suggest using voting power, money or communication skills to forward a goal that is beyond your personal control.

把注意力集中在那些你可以控制的事情上，而不要在意那些你无能为力的事。遇到你个人能力所无法掌控的事情，我也建议你用投票、金钱或者交流技能等手段，来促进目标的实现。

来源：好英语网