I’ve written about the importance of gratitude many times before, and it’s indeed life-changing. Optimism is another great practice that improves quality of life, and it can stem directly from gratitude.

Things might not always be optimal, but we can always be grateful for how good they are (or how “not bad” they are), and that can lead to a belief that conditions will be better, that we can affect our future conditions. We cannot control or influence everything throughout our experience, but we can influence or control a great deal, including the most important thing: ourselves.

It is fully within our power to determine our attitude, our internal environment, our reactions to the outside world’s events. I find this incredibly uplifting, a natural precursor to feeling optimistic about the future.

The truth is we can change the world. It may be slow, it may be difficult, but it is possible. To me, that alone is a cause for optimism.