Once you have identified your pessimistic thought, the next step is to closely examine it to see how reasonable that thought is. Ask yourself, "is there really any good reason why this thought is pessimistic?" For example, there are times when pessimism is reality - bad things do happen. At those times, recognizing the situation for what it is empowers you to do something about it (more about that in the section on Control).

However, most of the time there is not really any good reason to give in to pessimistic thinking. Biased or exaggerated thoughts need to be corrected with more realistic ones. In that respect, pessimistic thinking is a bad habit that needs to be replaced with the good habit of optimistic thinking.

Using the previous example of the report for work, if your reaction would be that of the pessimist, here are some questions to ask yourself to get past your initial reaction:

• The first step in disputing is to recognize that such a thought is pessimistic. You can tell this thought is pessimistic because of its overly negative tone and the absence of evidence that the feared outcomes would actually happen.
• You can dispute this thought by thinking more realistically about what the worst case scenario might be even if you do not get the corrected data that you need before your deadline. Chances are, you will be able to advise your supervisor regarding the data problems and enlist their help. Even if the absolute worse happened and you didn't get your report done in time, it is unlikely that your life will actually be ruined. Who knows? Maybe by working with others to get the corrected data, your report will be even better than it would have been had the error not been found.

The key is to choose to focus on the positive possibilities, and counter your negative fears with realistic judgments and possibilities.

Click below to learn about how a healthy sense of Control is another important quality of emotionally resilient individuals.