What does it mean to live a happy and healthy lifestyle? Do you sometimes feel like it’s a struggle to achieve? Maintaining a work-life balance can be difficult at times, but it’s something we often strive for to keep our stress levels down. With the power of hope, optimism, and positive thinking, you can keep that balance and do so with ease. Hope, optimism, and positive thinking may seem like the same thing, but there are some differences. Each of these mindset characteristics has its own benefits, but each plays a role in overall satisfaction in life.
The Power Of Hope
The definition of hope has a few different meanings, according to the dictionary:
- To cherish a desire with anticipation: to want something to happen or be true
- To desire with expectation of obtainment or fulfillment
- To expect with confidence
For some, it’s just “wishful thinking”. But, for others, there is more power behind being hopeful. We may go through life with expectations of how it “should” look, yet life delivers to us something different. We make plans for our life, and then something happens to derail those plans, such as job loss or divorce. One of the hardest things to accept in life is that we are not always in control. However, the beauty of hope lies in what we can control – our reaction.
When we take on a hopeful attitude, we take our power back. Being hopeful allows us to understand that while we cannot control the circumstances of life, we can approach it with a hopeful attitude of something better in the future. Hope says that we will be ok. When we remain hopeful, our actions emulate that positive belief that everything will work out. Being hopeful puts us in the driver’s seat, and we can choose to head in a different direction rather than remain stuck in the sorrow of what we lost.
The Power Of Optimism
While being hopeful is essential in maintaining our equilibrium when life throws us a curve, being optimistic is different. What is optimism? The best way to describe optimism is to have a positive expectation, a certainty that things will work out in life with the most optimal result. The power of optimism is key to sustaining a healthy balance in all areas of life, such as relationships, careers, and health.
The more optimistic you are, the more you expect to get positive results. When you maintain an optimistic outlook, your brain attempts to produce results aligned with your mindset. Your actions stem from your beliefs. If you believe things will work out for the best, your thoughts, feelings, and actions reflect that belief.
The Power Of Positive Thinking
Hope is an intentional mindset for future goals, wishes, and desires. Optimism is a way of living life with the habit of being certain of a positive outcome. Positive thinking, however, is more of a conscious lifestyle. Some would say positive thinking is a precursor to living with an automatic way of being optimistic in life.
Positive thinking is a way of looking at a disappointing situation and finding the silver lining. For example, the loss of a job may feel like the end to something, but it can also be the beginning of something greater! The possibility of finding a better job or starting your own business can bring hope. When you reframe something negative with the power of positive thinking, then seeing the potential gives you the power to see the possibilities inside of that experience.
Take Back Your Power, Take Back Your Life
While we may not always control our circumstances, we can control our mindset with the possibilities found inside of hope, optimism, and positive thinking. The choice is always ours. When you choose to look at the circumstances with hope, optimism, and positive thinking, you take back your power. You own your life. Life is not happening TO you; it’s happening FOR you. You can choose to create something wonderful and find the beauty for ashes.