Dr. Hossam Badrawi Official Website
When one of us faces a problem or encounters an obstacle in life, the best way to overcome it is to recharge oneself with optimism, hope, and fill the soul with these feelings. However, what is happening in our lives today is completely different from this aspect. With a quick glimpse at social media or what we receive through smartphone applications, we find words and expressions that indicate a state of misery, hopelessness, and self-reproach. A huge number of pessimistic words surround many people, engulfing their days and feeding their times due to their failures or stumbles.
The Dreamers of Tomorrow Society discussed this issue with me, and one of them said: “We hear you saying that your soul is optimistic, and you seem smiling even in the darkest times, as if happiness and optimism are inherited matters, so it’s not the fault of the miserable and pessimistic, as they were born this way!” I responded, “My children, happiness is a decision and optimism is a culture.”
I ask everyone around me, what makes you happy? And I ask them to mention five actions that bring joy and happiness to their souls. Strangely, most of those I ask find it difficult to list five actions that bring them happiness!
Happiness is a positive decision, and it has components. If we do not strive for it, we may not find it. It is true that some people, including myself, see the best in people and the beauty in events around them. But if a person is not seeking joy and pursuing happiness, days may pass without them noticing it because they are not looking for it.
The collective consciousness of the family and society can create positive energy or the opposite. This collective consciousness is influenced by the culture of the society, its leaders, its media, and its arts. Emotional preparation for this starts from childhood, in homes, schools, universities, clubs, and places of worship. Life is a blessing from the Creator, and enjoying it is a form of gratitude to God. We should aspire to it and savor it because it is one of the rights of human beings.
As for optimism in life, it is a wonderful inner feeling. It is a state of comfort that an individual feels due to their belief that there is always a way out of problems if they occur.
To be optimistic means to see the light amidst the darkness, to feel that despite all the challenges, difficulties, and pains, there is still much to love in life, and it is beautiful and worth living, struggling, and striving to achieve and attain. Another young man asked: “Is there a difference between pleasure and happiness?” I replied: “The difference is significant, as pleasure is linked to a surge in dopamine levels and is short-term, while happiness is long-term and associated with serotonin. They are two different states. Pleasure is sensory, but happiness is emotional, psychological, and mental. Pleasure, including sex and the moment of winning or acquiring money, can be a part of greater, broader, and more comprehensive happiness, but it is not happiness itself. It is possible to buy pleasure, but happiness cannot be purchased. Pleasure can turn into an addiction, whereas happiness is a healthy state that makes a person better and makes them see the good in others. Some people may have high and hereditary serotonin levels, and their genes give them this predisposition to happiness, like me. But everyone can work on themselves to generate this hormone through positive thinking.
Pleasure is mostly about taking, while happiness involves giving and may be that what you do for others is the source of your true happiness.”
Another young man asked: “What about optimism?” I said: “Optimism is a voluntary psychological process that generates thoughts and feelings of satisfaction, endurance, hope, and trust while keeping away thoughts and feelings of despair, defeat, and helplessness. The optimistic person sees crises as opportunities, and their optimism stimulates their psychological and physical immune systems, while pessimism depletes a person’s energy, reduces their activity, and weakens their motivation. A pessimistic interpretation is one of the leading causes of various physical illnesses, as well as a decrease in academic and professional performance. It is up to the individual to decide their fate or future. Optimism is not a gift or an innate trait in a person’s character but rather a skill that the individual learns in order to master it and think positively.”
And I remind you that optimism and pessimism are contagious. In other words, they can be acquired from interaction with others. So, associating with pessimists makes you like them, with a bleak outlook on life, hesitant and not courageous. However, being in the company of optimists makes life seem simpler and more thrilling to you, and you can face obstacles in a positive way. Look around you carefully and choose your company and friends wisely first. Then, nourish your mind and soul with beautiful thoughts and immerse your conscience in optimism, and you will gradually see positive results cascading down on you.
There is a collective mindset for the community, created by the sum of positive or negative energy within it, driven by education, media, and the arts, which imposes a great responsibility on the leaders of the community as they are the creators of this climate and the facilitators of its existence.
Young people, happiness is a decision that you must make, and you need to seek it. Optimism is a culture that we learn to become a way of life.
The optimistic young woman said: “But there must be a genetic aspect, Doctor, as in my family, my parents and I always look at things with optimism while my brother and mother tend to be pessimistic, even though we live in the same house.”
I told her: “There is some truth in that, but positive will and the desire for happiness are very important, and I advise each one of you to think of what makes them happy and to seek it. As I told you, optimism is a skill that we can acquire.”
Another young man said: “What about the climate of pessimism around us, what do we do in it? Threats of terrorism to the north, a Salafi conscience that wants to take us back to the past from within, while the whole world is leaping to the future, fear of a water crisis to the south, deepening disputes with Ethiopia, huge population and economic challenges, and employment opportunities are fading due to the sciences of the future… how can you expect us to be optimistic in this climate?”
I told him: “Do you imagine that life will proceed without challenges… as if you want to play a match knowing that you’ll win due to the absence of the opponent? The most beautiful thing in life is facing challenges and achieving victory for yourself and others. The threat of terrorism is everywhere, and it could have placed Egypt in the same position as Iraq, Syria, Yemen, or Libya. But our people and our army were able to endure and transform chaos into stability… Yes, we still need more; that’s our right. Let’s remember that extremist religious governance has not been in control of any country and left it, except in Egypt, due to a civilized stance that mandated the civil nature of the state and rejected the rule of the Muslim Brotherhood… Can you avoid worry and fear sometimes? No, but you can act and think creatively and resourcefully You will be able to adapt to the future data and the needs of the jobs of tomorrow. And I can, with confidence, as I visit schools in the poorest villages, see that the children of Egypt possess talents and abilities beyond the imagination of the negative collective mind. And that the Egyptian youth are better than the negative image portrayed of them… I see around me great human strengths that require guidance and care because they are a tremendous source of positive energy.
We must beware of the wars of the fourth and fifth generations, which aim to kill hope in souls and spread rumors about everything that is bad while turning a blind eye to everything that is beautiful… My children, our country is beautiful, our civilization is great, and with hope, work, confidence, and optimism, we can achieve the happiness we deserve. Happiness does not descend upon us from the sky, but it is we who plant it in the earth.
The pride is not in not falling, but in rising every time we fall. Do not be among those who complain that the rose has thorns, but be among those who are optimistic that above the thorns, there are roses. And remember the great saying of Abu al-Ma’adi:
O complainer, what ails you?
Be beautiful and you will see the existence as beautiful.
