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In Work & Family Life newsletter (November 2005; [email protected]), University of Michigan psychologist Barbara Frederickson shares some insights on the value of optimism. While many studies have made the connection between optimistic personalities and long life, a big question is: "Can one remain optimistic when tragedies happen in our lives?"

Dr. Frederickson reports that how people cope is a big piece of the puzzle. More resilient people tend to embrace love and friendship, count their blessings, and grow emotionally as a result of their hardships. She suggests we can learn to “harness” the impact of stress on our emotions by...

thinking in terms of challenges rather than threats,

seeing ourselves as capable of meeting a challenge, and

thinking of the search for “positive meaning” as a skill we can develop.

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