Learned optimism

July 22, 2008- Some people are just simply pessimistic. They always see the glass as half-empty. With this view, even the small things seem to squeeze the hope out of a situation. I am just as guilty as the next, when it comes to this frame of mind. But that's not the way we should live. Martin Seligman wrote a book called Learned Optimism. In the book he shows that the way we live our life depends on how we view circumstances. You see, while the pessimist sees failure as overwhelming, constricting, and controlling, the situations in life become just that to him. The optimist experiences the same failures in life, but he never sees failure as personal, permanent, or pervasive. Things in life are going to happen but the way we view them will determine the effect it has on us.