摘要：假如你预期某事会有不妙的结果，结局也许就真的不妙——悲观的想法很少落空。但这个法则反过来也同样成立：如果你自感鸿运当头，通常就会有好运降临!在乐观与成功之间似乎有一种天然的因果关系。那么我们该如何乐观面对生活?

Choose Optimism 选择乐观

By Rich DeVos

If you expect something to turn out badly, it probably will. Pessimism is seldom disappointed. But the same principle also works in reverse. If you expect good things to happen, they usually do! There seems to be a natural cause-and-effect relationship between optimism and success.

假如你预期某事会有不妙的结果，结局也许就真的不妙——悲观的想法很少落空。但这个法则反过来也同样成立：如果你自感鸿运当头，通常就会有好运降临!在乐观与成功之间似乎有一种天然的因果关系。

Optimism and pessimism are both powerful forces, and each of us must choose which we want to shape our outlook and our expectations. There is enough good and bad in everyone’s life — ample sorrow and happiness, sufficient joy and pain — to find a rational basis for either optimism or pessimism. We can choose to laugh or cry, bless or curse. It’s our decision: From which perspective do we want to view life? Will we look up in hope or down in despair?

乐观和悲观都是强大的力量，我们每个人都必须在这两者之间做出选择，从而给我们对未来的展望和预期染上或明或暗的色彩。每个人的生命中都有足够多的幸与不幸——数不清的哀伤和喜悦，欢欣与痛苦——给我们乐观或悲观的理由。我们可以选择哭或是笑，祝福或是诅咒。我们可以选择用什么样的眼光去看待生活——是昂首去寻找希望抑或垂头在绝望中逡巡。

I believe in the upward look. I choose to highlight the positive and slip right over the negative. I am an optimist by choice as much as by nature. Sure, I know that sorrow exists. I am in my 70s now, and I’ve lived through more than one crisis. But when all is said and done, I find that the good in life far outweighs the bad.

我喜欢向上看。我会把注意力集中在生活中光明的一面，忽略那些阴暗的角落。天性和个人选择是我成了一个乐观主义者。当然，我知道生命中总有伤痛，年逾古稀的我曾不止一次经历过危机。但是，当一切尘埃落定，我发现生命中的美好远远比丑恶为多。

An optimistic attitude is not a luxury; it’s a necessity. The way you look at life will determine how you feel, how you perform, and how well you will get along with other people. Conversely, negative thoughts, attitudes, and expectations feed on themselves; they become a self-fulfilling prophecy. Pessimism creates a dismal place where no one wants to live.

乐观的态度不是一种奢侈品;它是我们生活的必需。你看待生活的方式将决定你的感受、你的表现，以及你与他人相处得怎样。反过来，悲观的想法、态度和预期也会自成因果：它们是能自我实现的预言。悲观会制造出无人愿望的黑暗处所。

Optimism doesn't need to be naive. You can be an optimist and still recognize that problems exist and that some of them are not dealt with easily. But what a difference optimism makes in the attitude of the problem solver!

乐观不意味着幼稚。在保持乐观的同时，你仍然能意识到问题的存在，意识到有些问题非常棘手。乐观带来的改变在于面对问题的态度。

Optimism draws our attention away from negativism and channels it into positive, constructive thinking. When you're an optimist, you're more concerned with problem-solving than with useless fault-finding. In fact, without optimism, issues as big and ongoing as poverty have no hope of solution. It takes a dreamer — someone with hopelessly optimistic ideas, great persistence, and unlimited confidence — to tackle a problem that big. It's your choice.

乐观精神使我们的注意力从消极的否定态度转向积极的、建设性的思考。乐观主义者更关心如何解决问题，而不是毫无意义地怨天尤人。事实上，如果没有乐观精神，像贫穷这样严重而且现正存在的问题是无望解决的。解决这样的问题需要一个梦想家 —— 一个拥有九死不悔的乐观、矢志不移的坚韧和无限信心的人。何去何从，由你决定。