The art of happiness is to minimize negative emotions. So we look on life at times as a glass half full rather than half empty. In many ways we can consider happiness to be a state of mind, and contagious, it is far easier to be happy among happy people. Optimism is also contagious, and leads to happiness for all.
The way we look at the world is in part a product of our upbringing, culture, family and experience, and is therefore a learned behavior pattern.
The optimist will see difficulties as opportunities, a chance to try something new, an area of new experience, so becomes a challenge and positive.
Optimists are usually more successful, have more positive happening to them, spot opportunities, are generally healthier, cope better with stressful situations, and far happier generally. If they are upset by something they rebound faster and see something positive at a far earlier point.
Optimists like others come in shades, with a scale with pessimists at one extreme end, realists, optimists and visionaries further along. The visionary may need a friend who is an optimist or realist to keep them balanced. Depending where you are on this scale also effects how you see others, the realist can see all, while to the visionary the realist may appear slightly pessimistic.
