{"id":2999,"date":"2020-10-13T13:41:55","date_gmt":"2020-10-13T05:41:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/faradalemedia.com\/?p=2999"},"modified":"2020-10-14T09:15:50","modified_gmt":"2020-10-14T09:15:50","slug":"the-dangers-of-being-overly-optimistic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rakansarawak.com\/v4\/2020\/10\/13\/the-dangers-of-being-overly-optimistic\/","title":{"rendered":"The Dangers of Being Overly Optimistic"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"art-523-01\"<\/a>Having too much optimism in your life can lead you to ignore the reality you are living in<\/em><\/p>\n

While we are encouraged to think positively to boost self-esteem, improve mental health and find happiness, sometimes being too optimistic has its peril.<\/p>\n

In a 2015 interview with ABC news, Associate Professor Anthony Grant from the University of Sydney  cautioned the unrealistic nature of being permanently optimistic and how it can be detrimental in the long run.<\/p>\n

“It just doesn’t work. When people don’t allow themselves to think about problems or sadness or any other emotion apart from happiness, it’s not helpful at all.<\/p>\n

“In difficult periods in your life, you need to allow yourself to grieve and have a whole range of emotions, because that’s part of the natural healing process,” he explained.<\/p>\n

In writing for Inc., psychotherapist and mental strength trainer Amy Morin noted that overly optimistic individuals tend to resist hearing \u201cany logic that may imply things might not be as rosy as they think.\u201d<\/p>\n

She outlined three forms of optimistic thoughts that posed more danger than one would think otherwise:<\/p>\n

Exaggerating the positive<\/strong>, leading to overlooking reality. \u201cPeople who see themselves as perfect don’t strive to improve. And people who only look for the good in others tend to excuse major character flaws or get themselves wrapped up in toxic situations,\u201d she described.<\/p>\n

Being overconfident in one\u2019s abilities<\/strong>, leading to increased carelessness due to lack of preparation. \u201cYou might not study for that test or you may opt out of practising because you’re convinced you’re already perfect at what you do.\u201d<\/p>\n

Overestimating your chances of success<\/strong>, causing one to disregard any potential risk. \u201cIf you don’t spend any time thinking about what could go wrong, you won’t be able to prevent it from happening.\u201d<\/p>\n

Therefore, it is vital to view \u2018positive thinking\u2019 as being realistically optimistic rather than focusing only on the good in every situation and smiling all the time.<\/p>\n

“It’s maintaining a realistic, optimistic mindset in the face of challenges, whereby you’re drawing on your strengths and capacities and working through the situation more optimistically than pessimistically,” said psychologist Suzy Green from The Positivity Institute in Australia.<\/p>\n

Having such mindset enables one to acknowledge negative thoughts arising from challenging times rather than deny them at all, and subsequently learn to overcome these times by thinking differently and finding ways to tackle them.<\/p>\n

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