Optimism: The Power of Positive Thinking

“How does she do it?” I was found asking myself this question after talking to one of my friends. She had been through a series of negative and stressful events. She was diagnosed with cancer, her mother kept falling ill and her father was having a hard time making ends meet. Even though she faced hard times, she still had her sunny disposition and positive attitude, as always. That’s the thing with optimists, although they might face the most adverse situations; their power to think positively helps them get through the day.

Optimism comes from the Latin word “optimus” which means “best”, indicating how an optimistic person always looks for the best or the good in any situation. They have a tendency to believe and expect that things will turn out well and a remarkable ability to see a silver lining in almost all situations. Taking the example of my friend, she said that these adversities brought her family closer together and they realised how much they loved and valued each other. After countless visits to different hospitals and doctors, various medicines, surgery and chemotherapy, she recovered after almost two years. Her appearance, her voice and her habits might have changed but one thing remained the same, her optimism.