"Even the tiniest shift of focus toward the positive or the negative can tilt myriad brain circuits, strengthening or weakening the connections and circuits within our brain," writes Elaine Fox in Rainy Brain, Sunny Brain: How to Retrain Your Brain to Overcome Pessimism and Achieve a More Positive Outlook (New York: Basic Books, 2012). Other insights from the book:
"Optimism is an asset only when paired with a strong sense of realism. Rose-colored glasses might be fun, but they don't do us much practical good.
"Worming your way out of a tough situation is much easier when you're an optimist — happiness expands your range of thought and makes us more inventive.
"Positive feelings don't last forever for anyone, even optimists. But happy feelings linger longer in sunny brains and rarely stick in depressed ones."
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