We’ve noted it before and we can now say it again: Looking on the bright side of life may allow you to experience a better and longer life. Two newly reported studies seem to confirm that those of us who take an optimistic view toward life may be rewarded with better emotional well-being and more years in our life span. Furthermore, the evidence is in that your outlook on life is not predetermined by your genes, but in fact, you can, as the Dalai Lama says, “Choose to be happy.” So let’s take a look at what being optimistic can do for you.

First, from earlier this year comes a study out of Boston University published in the Journals of Gerontology. According to this study of about 230 men over an 8-year period, those who had an optimistic disposition (meaning they had generalized expectations of positive outcomes) were considered to have better emotional well-being. This was attributed to their ability to regulate how often they would experience stressful situations or their ability to change the way they interpreted situations as stressful. Since we know that stress can have negative effects on our health, it’s easy to conclude that anything that lessens our response to stress would be a health benefit. Furthermore, this suggests, as psychologist Ilene Berns-Zare recently wrote in Psychology Today, that through our minds, we may have more influence over our health and well-being than we realize. In essence, through a shift in our outlook, we may be able to counter some of the declines that can arise from aging and potentially lead a fuller, more emotionally and physically healthy life. For more on this study, click here.

Another study out of Harvard reflects the potential longevity benefits of an optimistic outlook. This study, published in The Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, picks up on earlier research that found that women who reported a positive, optimistic outlook on life benefited from healthy aging and experienced longer life spans. This new research examined whether this benefit was true for women across diverse ethnic and racial groups, beyond the non-Hispanic white women who were studied in the original research. And, in fact, the research results did hold true regardless of the racial or ethnic background of the participants. According to one of the lead researchers, “Although optimism itself may be affected by social structural factors, such as race and ethnicity, our research suggests that the benefits of optimism may hold across diverse groups.” In fact, the researchers go on to suggest that optimism may be comparable to exercise in terms of its benefits for healthy aging. Bottom line? The research findings suggest that “There’s value to focusing on positive psychological factors, like optimism, as possible new ways of promoting longevity and healthy aging across diverse groups.” But note: the research findings are not a recommendation for just avoiding difficult circumstances- but rather suggest that being optimistic includes accepting and processing negative situations, knowing those situations will pass for a brighter future, something almost every older adult inevitably grapples with.

And if you’re not a natural-born optimist? Not to worry! Apparently, only about 25% of our optimistic outlook is programmed by our genes. If you put in the work, you can train yourself to enhance your sense of optimism, through such methods as journaling each day about what makes you feel positive and optimistic, or even more formally devoting yourself to such programs as Berkeley’s Best Possible Self Program. Like any muscle, your “optimism muscle” has to be massaged and utilized- but the end result could be a happier and longer life!