Fort Campbell, KY – Optimism builds resilience, which supports readiness among Soldiers and the Army Family. Here at Fort Campbell, the Ready and Resilient program is staffed with performance experts who provide tips and training to help Soldiers, Families and Department of the Army civilian employees strengthen mental toughness and enhance resilience.
“Most people want to catastrophize and find the worst-case scenarios,” said Sgt. 1st Class Emma Anderson, Ready and Resilient program manager. “What you really want to do is lower those levels of anxiety, because you’re not able to think straight and think clearly.”
Being optimistic does not mean only looking on the bright side of things and completely tuning out what is happening.
“There’s a reality to it,” Anderson said. “You have to be realistic because if you’re not, that optimism is only going to last so long.”
Optimism is about finding what you can control and staying focused on the positive, suggests Campbell Query, master resilience trainer and performance expert with contractor Magellan Health. Small ways to feel in control may include making a list of things you can do or try to do to solve one problem at a time.
One of the skills taught through the Ready and Resilient program is hunting for the good stuff.
“It’s about finding three good things that happened to you throughout the day and reflecting on them,” Query said.
The three good things can be big or small, the only thing that matters is they are three positive things that happened to you, he said.
Finding the good things and being grateful for them is a great way to reduce anxiety, Query said. Sharing gratitude fuels power when it gets others to engage and can be a way for Families to bond.
“Hunt the good stuff is a really simple and easy thing to do with your kids at the dinner table or just throughout the day,” he said. “Tell me what good thing happened to you. Why is that a good thing for you and what was the best thing about that thing, and how can we make that good thing happen tomorrow?”
Sharing positive stories, whether with Family or friends or on social media and asking others to do the same also cultivates optimism, Query said.
“Optimism is the engine of resilience so if you can build and cultivate optimism more positive emotions are likely to follow,” he said. “Without optimism you can really let your mind wander.”
The first step toward optimism is identifying negative thoughts and choosing to think about a situation in a different manner.
Other small things that you can do to build optimism include:
- Manage energy – do not get too sedentary.
- Avoid thinking traps like jumping to conclusions or blaming yourself or others. Know your hot buttons and pet peeves and see if you can alter thinking.
- Play mental games, whether it is counting in multiples of five, reciting the alphabet backward or doing a math problem, you can shift, slow or stop many counterproductive thoughts.
- Play music and enjoy the beat or dance.
Stephanie Ingersoll, Fort Campbell Courier reporter, contributed to this press release. For more Fort Campbell good news stories, visit https://fortcampbell-courier.com/.
