Most people would define optimism as endlessly happy, with a glass that’s perpetually half full. But that’s exactly the kind of false cheerfulness that positive psychologists wouldn’t recommend. “Healthy optimism means being in touch with reality,” says Tal Ben-Shahar, a Harvard professor. According to Ben-Shahar, realistic optimists are those who make the best of things that happen, but not those who believe everything happens for the best. Ben-Shahar uses three optimistic exercisers. When he feels down --- say, after giving a bad lecture ——he grants himself permission to be human. He reminds himself that not every lecture can be a Nobel winner; some will be less effective than others. Next is reconstruction. He analyzes the weak lecture, leaning lessons for the future about what works and what doesn’t. Finally, there is perspective, which involves acknowledging that in the grand scheme of life, one lecture really doesn’t matter.
大多数人认为乐观是无尽的欢乐，如同总是有半杯水的杯子。但那是一种绝不会为积极心理学家所称道的 虚假的快乐。哈佛大学的泰?本沙哈尔教授说，“健康的乐观主义意味着要活在现实之中。”在本沙哈尔看来， 现实的乐观主义者会因势利导，而非求全责备。 本沙哈尔会使用三种乐观的方法。比如说，当他因搞砸了一场演讲而倍感郁闷的时候，他会告诉自己这是 很正常的事，提醒自己：并不是每一次演讲都可以获得诺贝尔奖，总会有一些人的演讲效果不及其他人。接着 为改进。他分析了一些效果不好的演讲并且从那些起效和无效的演讲中吸取教训为将来做准备。最后是看待问 题的角度，即在生活的宏伟计划中，一次演讲真的无足轻重。
