How Meditation Can Help You Overcome Your Pessimistic Attitude

There are many benefits of mediation. Mindfulness and centering yourself is a healthy process that can help with stress, anxiety and depression. Many people use meditation in their daily lives to improve the quality of their sleep and to help them to be happier and less worried. If you struggle with being pessimistic or know someone who does, you might have heard the usual advice that is offered to those who struggle with seeing the world in this light.

While it is well-intentioned to tell someone who tends to see their life from a pessimistic point of view that they just need to change their outlook to feel better, it is not that helpful to offer this type of advice. Mindset is often outside of the control of many people unless they have tools to help them to change their way of thinking.

What is a Pessimistic Outlook?

Pessimism is not the same a depression and it is useful to know what pessimism actually is before trying to address it. Pessimism is defined as the tendency to anticipate, to see and to emphasize bad or undesirable elements in daily life. Pessimists will always see their glass as half empty rather than half full. Pessimists tend to be cynical and to see the bad in people and events rather than the good. They often also suffer from fear and anxiety which can lead to their negative world view.  

Many pessimists also lack a good sense of self, which makes them more prone to be defensive towards the world and the people that they interact with.  Pessimism by itself is not a marker for clinical depression but it can be a factor for those who are prone to depression. Many pessimists express the general fear that they will not have the ability to control their lives.

How Meditation Can Help You Overcome Your Pessimistic Attitude

Mindfulness meditation has been proven to help correct a pessimistic attitude to change it to be more in line with a hopeful or optimistic outlook. Behaviors are learned and negative outlook is a behavior. It can be unlearned just like a bad habit if the right tools are made available to the person struggling with a negative outlook on life.

Mindfulness meditation focuses on the present moment and working toward a calm mind that is open to all thoughts, both good and bad. It aims to teach the brain to accept thoughts and feelings as things that should be examined and then put away so that they will not become the source of emotional reaction or unwarranted focus. In the case of a pessimist that struggles with anxiety, the focus of mindfulness will be helpful to allow the person to learn to look at the positives of the present moment and let go of the negative thoughts from past experiences.

The focus of the brain on the current state of being is very helpful for the centering process. There is much comfort to be found in being well, healthy and quiet in the moment and not thinking about anything else at all for an extended period. For those who are pessimistic, much of their past experience is present in their interactions with current events. There is evidence that observing mindfulness even once a day for at least fifteen minutes can make a huge difference in the process of defeating pessimistic thoughts and learning to reframe life from a more positive outlook. 

As with anything that is done routinely and treated as practice of a skill, mindfulness becomes second nature and those who formerly defaulted to a pessimistic way of seeing life find that they are increasingly able to default their thinking to a more positive outlook. Mindfulness can also be of great use to circumvent anxiety as it allows the brain to rest and calm itself. For pessimists who are driven to that outlook by anxious thoughts and feelings, being able to defeat anxiety whenever it pops up can be very powerful towards leading a life filled with joy instead of worry and cynical thoughts.

How to Practice Mindfulness

The nice part about the cell-phone and computer era is that there are tons of options for those who are seeking to practice mindfulness with a bit of guidance. There are lots of apps on the market that teach meditation skills like mindfulness with led practice.  This is particularly helpful for those who struggle with anxiety or negative thoughts at work or when they are on the go. All they have to do is pop in headphones and find a quiet place to work on their meditation.

There are also often classes that can be attended in person to help to teach mindfulness practice and other meditation skills. Colleges and other organizations commonly offer meditation skills classes weekly or even more frequently for those who prefer to practice in a class setting. Many people start out attending a class in person and then branch out to other forms of meditation as they grow in their confidence.

If you have not found an app that you like yet or have been unable to find a class to attend, mindfulness in its most basic form is about quietness around and within you. Everyone can benefit from at least fifteen minutes in a quiet room with some peaceful music playing.  Close your eyes and calm your body and allow your thoughts to roam away from you.  This is mindfulness at its most basic level and is easily achieved without apps or guidance.

Breaking the cycle of pessimism is best accomplished by establishing new habits of thinking that are opposite the pessimistic habits that a person has formed over time.  If you remember that meditation is a practice, you will be able to appreciate your growth over time as you become more comfortable with the state of mind of mindfulness. Changing a pessimistic outlook to a positive one can change your life for the good forever.