Your friend is successful, wealthy and happy.  Did your friend experience “luck” or did he Labor Under Correct Knowledge?  It’s likely your friend, and others like him, are Optimists.  Optimists will not give up easily and, as a result, will more likely achieve success compared to pessimists.  Optimists believe in themselves, and their abilities, which means they expect good things to happen.

Many articles published on the internet state that research has been conducted on Optimism.  As stated in many of these articles, the researchers have concluded that an optimistic outlook is good for your health.  You will find statements such as the following:

• People who live life with optimism experience lower blood pressures;
• Optimists have stronger immune systems so they are less susceptible to illness;
• Optimists have less stress so they experience less stress-related health problems;
• Optimists generally feel more confidence than pessimists.  This confidence can give you a feeling of control in your life;
• Optimism can prevent feelings of helplessness which can be beneficial in warding off depression;
• Optimism allows you to experience good things in your life for a greater amount of time.  This may help empower you to deal with bad things in a positive way.

Do you need to practice more optimism in your life? Try cutting, pasting and printing the following Optimist Creed and put it up somewhere where you can read it often or have it printed and framed for a friend or loved one who could use more optimism in their life:

THE OPTIMIST CREED

To be so strong that nothing can disturb your peace of mind.
To talk health, happiness and prosperity to every person you meet.
To make all your friends feel that there is something in them.
To look at the sunny side of everything and make your optimism come true.
To think only of the best, to work only for the best and to expect only the best.
To be just as enthusiastic about the success of others as you are about your own.
To forget the mistakes of the past and press on to the greater achievements of the future.
To wear a cheerful countenance at all times and give every living creature you meet a
      smile.
To give so much time to the improvement of yourself that you have no time to criticize
      others.
To be too large for worry, too noble for anger, too strong for fear and too happy to permit
      the presence of trouble.

Have you experienced true optimism in your life? Share your story with us.

It is thought that male depression affects about 5% of all men. Trouble is, most of us are unlikely to spot the symptoms of male depression, let alone admit we’ve got it.

Men react to depression differently from women. Anger and aggression are two common signals of a depressed man. So immediately that makes it more difficult to spot.

That means some of the tell-tale signs of male depression include things like road rage and other sudden anger bouts. These outbursts can quite easily be thought of as being “just usual” whereas they are really more deeply rooted.

Most men find it difficult to talk about their feelings. Even men who you’d categorize as “modern” fall into this trap. Many men think it’s a sign of failure if they have to talk about their feelings rather than just “deal” with them.

Which means that the advice you’d give a depressed woman to “simply talk about your feelings” isn’t something that many men would take kindly to.

Bottling up your emotions may be the “manly” thing to do. But longer term, it’s really bad for you. Those bottled up feelings can start to eat away at you.

So what can you do to cure your male depression? If you can convince yourself to talk about the feelings you’ve got – maybe with the excuse of a fishing trip or a trip to the bar – then that’s good. If you find that idea awkward or impossible, try talking about a “friend” who’s got the problems you’re experiencing. Men are natural problem solvers, so there’s a high chance you’ll get some excellent advice if you can go down this route. A confidential doctor’s appointment could get you some anti-depressant drugs, which can be a good short term solution.

A different way is to use a totally discrete option to help overcome your male depression. The internet really comes into its own here. You can download depression help at the click of a button and nobody (except your credit card company’s computer) will be any the wiser. You can then read or listen to the anti-depression material at your own pace.

Discover more ways to combat male depression here.