I thought it was extremely surprising to read that those who were cheerful and optimistic were less likely to live to an old age than their other more mellow counterparts. However, after reading the reasoning behind it, I could understand more why this was. The type of people who chased after being constantly happy were more likely to not deal with or recognize dangerous aspects of their lives: it seemed to be more of a false suppression of negative parts of their lives than a genuinely positive outlook on life. It seemed like the people who were rated as “cheery” were not actually handling life problems in a responsible manner.
This chapter particularly struck close to home because it was the trait I related to the most. I aim to be cheerful and happy everyday. However, after reading this chapter, I am wondering if whether my cheerfulness is a good thing or if I really am being oblivious to what is happening in my life. The authors mention that there are many pros to being positive. However, they also mentioned that in the long run, those with realistic optimism fare better.
I think in hard times, I do try my best to be realistically optimistic. However, I do admit that I am the type of person who believes in happy endings. I tend to try my best to achieve this end goal in everything that I do. I think it is still a shock to me that being positive about everything is not healthy. I think it will be a process to become more realistic with myself and my expectations.