A Journey To Optimism
The past was always worse, and there is no doubt that the future will be better. This is the optimistic message to which Eduardo Punset invites us in his book Journey to Optimism. On this journey, the constant scientific advances that justify approaching the future with enthusiasm are raised.
In this book Punset affirms that today more than ever it is necessary to learn to unlearn, due to the great advances that have occurred in such a short time in our society and that invite us to question much of the knowledge that we take for granted. It also emphasizes the importance of assuming that managing emotions is an inexcusable priority.
We live dominated by pessimism when we do not have a slow and responsible conception of time. Only when the past and future are seen in perspective do we understand that the continuity of optimism has allowed the species to survive and stimulated its motivation to excel. Optimism is nothing more than the conception of hope.
To survive we have had to be true to ourselves, to our families, to our culture and to our planet. In this journey to optimism, it is intended to be a wake-up call for the reader to remember some secrets that should not be forgotten in times of change.
Was any past time worse?
Faced with all those who believe that the current economic crisis or ongoing corruption scandals are symptoms of a rotten, decaying Western world, Punset remains optimistic about the potential of scientific discoveries to drive true progress in our society..
Today we know that life expectancy increases by two and a half years every decade, for the first time in the history of the human species. The discovery of neural plasticity puts in our hands a power unknown until a few decades ago: we have the possibility to intervene on the architecture of our brain even after crossing the thresholds of childhood and adolescence.
And it is that for Punset, the hope of a change is above all in education, but in an education that takes into account everything that scientific research on the human brain is discovering. He considers that the research that has revealed the impressive plasticity of the human brain shows to what extent the education and formative experiences of each human being can shape their intellectual abilities, their creativity or the ability to manage their emotions.
For all this, the author of Journey to Optimism maintains that without a doubt any past time was always worse; Despite all the regrets, there has never been a more optimistic and more grounded moment than now.
Why do we worry more than necessary?
Contemporary society adopted worry as necessary, making us feel that we must worry for something to go well. worry has thus become a sine qua non condition for success. We have acquired a hateful programming: we think that, if we do not worry about something, we are not giving it the importance it deserves, so if we are calm in the face of a situation that causes concern to others, we can end up feeling guilty, no matter how absurd it may seem. .
Most of the “future events” that concern us will never occur and with most of those that do occur, we are left with the feeling that “they were not so bad.” In addition, we also realize that worry in the end has not helped us in any way to face the difficulty. On the other hand, when we can understand that worrying about what we have no control over is useless, then we will open the doors to relaxation.
Think that when we worry too much about something our body generates a hormone called cortisol, also known as the stress hormone. Cortisol increases blood sugar levels and undermines the power of your immune system, making us more prone to disease.
Punset in his analysis lists several keys so that worry does not acquire a predominant role in our feelings, such as not anchoring in the past, making an effort to enhance your strengths or sharing and caring for relationships with others. But, true to his scientific training, he emphasizes the importance of ‘verbalizing’ feelings and eliminating the prejudices in which concern is anchored.
