The Science of Optimism

I realize I already wrote a post today, but something awesome happened so you will just have to deal with it. I was sitting on the plane coming back to school. I was tired...more like exhausted from being up for more then 24 hours. The lady in the seat next to me could not stop talking. I was getting a little more than slightly annoyed when she offered me one of her magazines to look at. I was more than happy to grab one and have an excuse not to talk anymore. It was a TIME magazine and the picture on the cover immediately grabbed my attention. The cover story was about the science of optimism. I turned to the page and began reading the article. It was quite fascinating. It basically said that optimism, even though not rational, may be hardwired in our brains. It also said that people who let their optimism flourish actually are better able to cope and see the "silver lining" in things and also do better in work and life in general. I was talking with Bobby before I left about being optimistic in regards to a promotion he had coming at work. He said that it was easier not to get his hopes up because he would never be let down that way. Obviously, being the ray of sunshine that I am ;), I tried to convince him otherwise. Today he has informed me that he did indeed get the promotion. I can't help but wonder if he took my advice and let some positive thinking slip in. And if so, maybe there is something we could all learn from being more optimistic in the everyday things that we do. Like today, I was very optimistic about finding a parking spot even though I couldn't see any open spaces. To make a long story short, I found a space. So is there really a science to this thing we call optimism?