UpWORDS Wednesday: HOPE-Scroll with Us to Uplift Your Outlook!

Posted: September 14, 2025

We are introducing a new feature, UpWORDS Wednesday!. Each week we will share an uplifting quote, image, or affirmation to brighten your day. However, this is more than just a “feel good” feature. As you know, we value sharing research-informed guidelines and strategies to enhance your mental health. So, let’s learn a bit about the benefits of optimism and effective ways we can cultivate positivity in our day-to-day lives.

Optimism Defined

Optimism is all about having a hopeful outlook and maintaining confidence in positive outcomes for yourself, others, and the future. It's not just wishful thinking; optimism can fundamentally improve your ability to think and feel more positively, even when you encounter challenges.

The Purpose of Optimism

Why focus on cultivating optimism? Simply put, because it’s good for you! Optimism enhances your mental and physical well-being. Mentally, optimism reduces stress and depression, boosts happiness and motivation, improves coping abilities, and enhances satisfaction in relationships. Physically, optimists often experience better health outcomes, including cardiovascular health, pain management, and even a longer life span.

Researchers have found that optimists tend to achieve more, feel more satisfied with their lives, and have better overall health. This is because optimism encourages individuals to engage in healthier behaviors, persist longer through challenges, and recover more quickly from setbacks. By fostering a positive mindset, you can create a ripple effect that touches many aspects of your life.

Realistic vs. Unrealistic Optimism

While it's great to maintain a positive outlook, it's crucial to differentiate between realistic and unrealistic optimism. Realistic optimism involves acknowledging personal effort and taking necessary steps toward achieving positive outcomes, with the belief that things will work out because of your efforts. In contrast, unrealistic optimism is characterized by blind faith in favorable outcomes without considering necessary actions or potential obstacles. Realistic optimists prepare for both positive and negative possibilities, plan accordingly, and persist despite setbacks.

For instance, consider someone preparing for a big exam. A realistic optimist would hope for a good grade but would also study diligently, seek help if needed, and develop a study schedule. An unrealistic optimist might assume they will do well without studying adequately, leading to potential disappointment. Realistic optimism allows you to maintain hope while also taking practical steps to ensure a successful outcome.

Practicing Optimism: How to Flex Your Positivity Muscle

Practicing optimism helps us improve our ability to think and feel more positively, which is especially important in our fast-paced, ever evolving environment. Although we do not always have control over external events that negatively impact us, we do have the ability to create positivity in our own lives as a counterbalance.

A positive outlook often begins with how we explain the negative events that happen in our lives. Research tells us an optimistic explanatory style involves three key components:

External Attribution: Consider external factors contributing to a negative outcome. Optimists broaden their perspective and evaluate the range of variables involved, avoiding self-blame. They may critique their performance to identify areas for improvement, but they don't engage in self-condemnation. This helps maintain self-esteem and encourages constructive self-assessment.
Specific Attribution: View negative outcomes as isolated events. Optimists understand that one setback doesn't define their abilities or future successes. This perspective helps maintain motivation and prevents a single failure from overshadowing overall progress. For example, if an optimist receives constructive criticism at work, they view it as an opportunity to improve, not as a sign of overall incompetence.
Impermanent Attribution: Perceive setbacks as temporary and modifiable. Optimists see negative outcomes as short-lived and changeable, which promotes resilience. They believe that with effort and adjustment, future results can improve. This contrasts with pessimists, who often view setbacks as permanent, reinforcing a sense of helplessness. Optimists are more likely to bounce back from adversity and try new approaches when one doesn't work.

Additional Strategies for Enhancing Optimism

There are several strategies to incorporate optimism into your daily life:

Mindfulness and Gratitude: Being mindful and practicing gratitude can enhance optimism. Mindfulness involves staying present and fully engaging in the current moment, which helps reduce stress and improve mental clarity. Gratitude practices, such as keeping a gratitude journal, can shift focus from negative thoughts to positive experiences.
Exposure to Positivity: Surround yourself with quotes or images associated with hope and optimism. Place them in your surroundings—on your bathroom mirror, computer monitor, or screensavers on electronic devices. These visual reminders can provide a constant source of inspiration and motivation.
Reading Resilient Stories: Reading books or articles about resilience or inspiring individuals can boost positive thinking. Stories of people overcoming adversity can provide valuable lessons and reinforce the belief that challenges can be overcome with determination and effort.
Hope-Scrolling: Hope-scrolling is the opposite of doom-scrolling. It involves intentionally seeking positive, inspiring, or uplifting content online. Reducing exposure to negative content and increasing exposure to positive content can improve your overall perspective and mood. Curate your social media feed to include profiles or pages that regularly share content that make you smile, inspire hope, and brighten your mood as well as your outlook.

Final Thoughts

Optimism is a skill that can be developed. Start with small changes in your thinking and gradually build on them. Over time, you'll find that optimism becomes a natural part of your approach to life's challenges, allowing you to navigate these with greater ease and hopefulness.

We will be sharing optimism-enhancing content each week with UpWORDS Wedneday. We know you are likely busy, so we’ve made this simple – an image including an uplifting quote or affirmation will be posted and shared in our stories. Whenever you need a boost of positivity, check out our Instagram Highlights. Whether you are following Upward from Alabama, Tennessee, Missouri, or anywhere else in the world, you will find our very own Upward hope-scroll, a collection of our UpWORDS Wednesday posts.

We hope that you visit us each Wednesday for your boost of optimism and if you’re needing a boost of positivity any other time, hope-scroll UP.