A trans-optimist tips post from a transitioned trans-optimist
Use the tips that are useful to you and feel free to ignore tips you don't want to do, you control your transtion, these are just suggestions at the end of the day.
Tips on actually developing the mindset:
Look into postive news and share it when you can
Try to find the "silver lining" in bad situations. For example if you see people talk about a horrible situation the lining could be that people are talking about the issue showing they care about it.
If you can't find a silver lining, try to make one. For example if you see a horrible anti post, make postivity post for the people being hated on.
Be patient with yourself, developing a new mindset takes a lot of time and effort, don't beat yourself up over not getting it immediately
Try to do good deeds, especially working with others to do good deeds
Try to be understanding of where others might be coming from even when you completely disagree with them
Imagine hopeful scenarios for the future
Engage with postive and optimistic content
Don't let bad days get to you, you will have days were the mindset will be hard to keep to and you might sometimes fail to be optimistic, this is okay and does not undo any progress you have made up until this point
Fake it til you make it, even if you haven't got the mindset yet try to act like you do
Make postive posts about anything you can
Try to have conversations that focus on happy things, talk a lot about what you enjoy and ask others what they enjoy
Generally speaking, improving your mental health will help with developing an optimistic mindset so try working on that too (if your comfortable with recovery)
Safety Note: Do not push other people to be optimistic. I often see optimists attempting to make others optimistic. Spreading positivity is a good thing but there is a difference between spreading postivity and actively trying to push others into an optimistic mindset. Not everyone can develop an optimistic mindset and not everyone wants to. It is especially important not to push this mindset onto people actively expriencing distress or pessimistic feelings as this can feel like a dismissal or invalidation of their feelings.
Okay time for some affirmation tips. These are things that may help you feel euphoric even if they don't help in nesscarily help in transtioning.
A lot of people associate colourfulness (and especially yellow) with postivity and black with negativity so try to be colourful whether that be in how your blog looks, how you dress, how your room/home looks, etc.
Engage with media that has postive messages, happy endings and/or optimistic characters
If you can, find others who will help you affirm your identity by calling you a optimist and treating you like one
Spend time around other optimists if you know any
Engage with postive content that others make
Some talk on "blind" optimism.
A "blind" optimist is an optimist that is "blind" to negative things. This can include dismissing negativity, refusing to acknowledge negative things happen, minimising the impact of negative things, etc. This type of optimism is usually harmful both to the person with the mindset and those around them as it can lead to them ignoring problems or actively making problems worse through dismissing and minimising them.
Not all optimists are "blind" optimists, you can acknowledge and be aware of negative things while choosing to focus your attention on positive things.
As a safety tip, if you are a trans-blind-optimist, make sure you do not nonconsensually harm others when developing your mindset, do not dismiss or invalidate others negative feelings and experiences. Also take care that you do not harm yourself in undesired ways.
With that said "blind" optimist specific tips:
Avoid any negativity when possible to do so
If you have a bad day, try to find the silver lining of the day and then only acknowledge that silver lining
Try to ignore bad things that happen to you
Avoid outright negative descriptions. For example, if you had a bad day just call it an alright/fine day instead.
Some reassurance/postivity
You are an optimist, being trans-optimist does not make you any less of an optmist whether you transtion or not (provided you want to be considered one)
It's okay if you don't conform to sterotypes of optmists and it's okay if you don't want to . You can be an optimist even if you don't seem like one to others
It's also okay if you act like a completely sterotypical optimist
Transtion takes time, changing your personality isn't something that happens overnight, it's okay if it takes you a while
It's also okay if you never transtion, only transtion halfway, are unsure about transtioning or anything else
Good luck, I hope you find these tips helpful!
