Word-Of-the-Week #821: Upbeat
April 30, 2020 by Susan Clarke · Comments Off on Word-Of-the-Week #821: Upbeat
Upbeat – optimistic; happy; cheerful.
Have you been able to stay upbeat with all the uncertainty? Under normal conditions would you say your glass is half full or half empty? Have you wasted energy worrying about things that you have little or no control over?
This week features Phil Blair’s UT article “Coping with the worst by positively thinking our best.”
“This may be an odd time to talk about the value of positive thinking and keeping a positive attitude.
With so much uncertainty, everything seems to be in flux. So many questions…
When will the sickness and deaths finally peak and begin to fall?
When will employers whose businesses have been deemed “not essential” be permitted to call back their furloughed employees?
When will we ever feel comfortable shaking hands and hugging each other again?
We don’t have many answers and we may not for quite a while longer. We do know, however, that our psychological moods and outlook will have either a positive or negative effect on our powers of resiliency.
While social distancing reduces transmission of the coronavirus, it also increases our anxiety, frustrations and loneliness. How we deal with all of this uncertainty becomes up to each of us.
Staying upbeat and positive are core emotions to successfully coping with this crisis. More than ever, it’s important that we do our best to create moments of happiness in our lives.
Behavioral research shows that positive emotions help undo the negative effects of stress. Plus, we feel so much better when we laugh and see the humor in situations.
I came across a set of “how to cope” suggestions offered by Lea Waters, a psychology professor at Australia’s University of Melbourne and one of the world’s experts on positivity.
Even for “normal” times, I heartily endorse them:
- Savor the small moments: The wonderful smell of coffee, the feel of a warm shower, the warmth of a sunny day. Rather than ignoring these small moments, let our brains process the pleasure, which boosts our serotonin, the feel-good neurotransmitter that helps elevate our mood and makes us feel calm.
- Strengthen our connections: Take time to hug your kids or partner, look them in the eyes, have long conversations with them. These gestures promote closeness and also boost oxytocin, a hormone that bonds people and also has a calming effect on our bodies. When oxytocin levels spike, they tell your body to switch off cortisol, the stress hormone.
- Look for the good in others: Crises, like the pandemic we are living through right now, can bring out the worst and the best in human nature. Think about the uplifting YouTube videos of British families singing “One Day More” from Le Misérables, with the lyrics changed to reflect the humor in their current locked- down lives.
Or the lady coming out of the restroom with two obvious rolls of toilet paper under her T-shirt. And my favorite, the man who’s asked to make a choice between these two options: 
Either a) Spend another month locked down with his wife and 3-year-old, or b) which he instantly chooses without even hearing what it might be.
- Try to see the good in people: I freely admit that I’m an eternal optimist, almost to a fault.
My cup is not only half full, but most days, as Shakespeare might say, it doth runneth over. I always try to see the good in people until they prove me wrong.
Worrying about something we have little to no control over is a waste of energy. Which is different from thinking about and studying a problem to find the best solution.
Worrying sucks all the energy and joy out of a person with no benefiting results. If we and our loved ones are all doing all the smart things to avoid contacting this virus, then let’s not spend time worrying to extremes about the virus.
Instead, let’s spend that time laughing at it and enjoying the funny jokes that are coming out every day.
We can either surround our lives with negative, doomsday, “the sky is falling” kinds of people or with positive, upbeat folks who are making the best of a bad situation.
We are all in this for at least another month, maybe longer.
Let’s all make the best of it, find the humor, find the touching stories of people helping other people.
Most of all, think about all the people out there that we can all hardly wait to give a big ol’ hug when this is all over.”
This week’s focus is on being upbeat. Do you realize that worrying sucks all the energy and joy out of a person with no benefiting results? Do you know that behavioral research shows that positive emotions help undo the negative effects of stress? Have you been able to laugh and find humor in your life?
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