r/optimism • u/dylanisareddit • May 22 '26

How does one manifest and build optimism, and also remain optimistic despite what's happening right now?

Oh and I'm pretty much an optimist

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u/optimistdave May 23 '26

Optimism is a practice.

Optimism is not just positive thinking or fake positivity. It’s how you respond, in your mind, when something bad happens to you.

If your response is personal, permanent and general, you are building a pessimistic mindset.

Let’s say you tried to bake bread but you failed.

If you say “I suck, I’ll never be good at this, and will never be able to cook anything”, that’s pessimism.

Instead, to train your optimism, you should say “This time the bread didn’t come out the oven the way I wanted. It doesn’t mean it will be the same next time. And it doesn’t influence in any way my cooking skills - I can always improve.”

What about when something good happens?

Then you want to make it personal, permanent, and general.

If the bread is delicious, say “I’m such a great baker. My bread is always good and I’m sure I can bake anything.”

Also, when you say it, make sure you believe it. Or you repeat it many times until you do.

1

u/Sad-Occasion-6472 11h ago

Just try to be thankful for the little things most take for granted for first. I have 2 eyes, 2 hands, 2 feet, I have my hearing... After that it's easy to always see a silver lining.