Optimal Well-Being

The main task of studying psychology is to find ways to solve the moral and psychological problems of people and society as a whole. Quite a powerful tool in the implementation of this task is positive psychology, which is a direction that studies the meaning and formation of positive manifestations of the human psyche (Csikszentmihalyi, 2014). One of the chief concepts of positive psychology is generally referred to as optimal well-being. The research affirms that this concept is one of the most important ones for a better understanding of human welfare. This is because optimal well-being describes the state and features of the inner world of a person that determines the experience of prosperity as well as behavior that produces and manifests in the situational well-being. Therefore, people with a positive outlook on the world have higher rates of viability, make scientific discoveries more often, have a beneficial effect on others, and are an important component of the evolutionary development of society.

Positive psychology also revolves around the following concepts: motivation, goals, happiness, and well-being. Its first task is to study joyful experiences such as well-being, contentment, optimism, happiness, and satisfaction (Csikszentmihalyi, 2014). A person, in turn, should find out what is good for him/her. In order to reach well-being, a person requires fulfilling of specific for him/her needs, which can vary widely, including the following: personal health, health of relatives, property, wealth, good relations with significant people, and even good weather in the place of residence (Lyubomirsky & Layous, 2013). Moreover, positive psychology and the concept of the optimal well-being are directed towards revealing the potential of a person in professional and social activities. The average person knows very little about how he/she can live a life with dignity and efficiency (Csikszentmihalyi, 2014). For that reason, positive psychology provides knowledge about normal and successful people, strengths and talents, great achievements, means of self-improvement, and ways to work fruitfully and express oneself in relationships.

Usually, a person has a high level of off-peak well-being if in most cases, he/she is satisfied with life and experiences unpleasant feelings only in certain situations. Considering the concept of well-being, an individual attaches special importance to the idea of his/her greatness. This aspect also includes the uncontested right to change the world around him/her and himself/herself. Therefore, the level of self-sufficiency assessment can be expressed in subjective, personally perceived evaluation to an excellent degree, and the state of actual well-being can be determined based on such a perception of one's own state as happiness (Lyubomirsky & Layous, 2013). As the basic components of a person's psychological well-being, positive relationships with others are distinguished by the following: acceptance of himself/herself (a positive assessment of his/her life), autonomy (the ability to follow his/her beliefs), competence (control of the environment, ability to effectively manage his/her life), life-giving direction and meaning, personal growth as a feeling of unceasing development, and self-realization.

In particular, a person with high autonomy is able to be independent, is not afraid to oppose his/her opinion to the majority's one, can afford not standard thinking and behavior, evaluates himself/herself based on his/her own preferences. The lack of sufficient level of autonomy leads to conformism and excessive dependence on the opinions of others (Csikszentmihalyi, 2014). Optimal well-being is the coherence of functions and mental processes, namely the sense of inner balance, integrity. It leads the person to harmony, promotes success in implementing plans, and creates maximum conditions for achieving goals (Lyubomirsky & Layous, 2013). Well-being also generates satisfaction with interpersonal interactions and the opportunity to receive positive emotions.

Environmental management implies that a person has qualities that lead to the successful mastery of various activities, the ability to achieve what is desired, and the means to overcome difficulties in the pursuit of his/her own goals. Hence, in the case of a lack of these characteristics, a person feels powerless and incompetent as well as thinks that there is nothing to change or improve in order to achieve the desired (Csikszentmihalyi, 2014). Under such conditions, the personal growth involves the volition to develop, learn, and perceive all new as well as a sense of personal progress. If personal growth, for some reason, is not possible during mastering new skills, then a person experiences boredom, stagnation, lack of faith in the ability to improve, and reduction of interest in life.

In this case, positive relationships with others, as a rule, are referred to as the ability to empathize and to be open to communication. In addition, this term includes the possession of skills that help establish and maintain contacts with other people, the desire to be flexible in interaction with others, and the ability to come to a compromise (Compton & Hoffman, 2012). The absence of these qualities is indicative of loneliness, inability to create and retain trusting relationships, reluctance to seek compromises, and seclusion. The life goals generate a sense of the meaning of existence; the value of what was important occurs in the present and will occur in the future. Lack of goals in life leads to feelings of senselessness, anguish, and boredom. The self-acceptance reflects a positive self-image of yourself and your life as a whole, awareness, and acceptance of not only your positive qualities but also your shortcomings (Compton & Hoffman, 2012). The opposite of self-acceptance is a feeling of dissatisfaction with oneself characterized by the rejection of certain qualities of ones personality, dissatisfaction with one's past.

I chose to examine the concept of optimal well-being because it is associated with personal characteristics such as self-confidence, adequate self-esteem, a positive outlook on life, goodwill, sociability, and emotional stability. In my life, I want to fight the negative factors that surround every person. Due to the concept of optimal well-being, a person can understand how to raise his/her level of psychological welfare. Since a low level of actual psychological well-being comes from the predominance of negative affect (general feeling of one's own unhappiness, dissatisfaction with one's own life), a high one results from the predominance of positive affect (a sense of satisfaction with one's own life, happiness). If a person succeeds in getting rid of negative emotions, he/she will automatically improve the reality for the better.

Through the research, I have learned that optimal well-being excludes mental unhealthiness, namely, an unstable, low, or directly bad mood, the ease of falling into the negative, and the difficulty of getting out of it. Insults, fears, irritation, fatigue, inability to endure life stress are already characteristics of mental and psychological problems. Moreover, low emotional tone, hostility, anger, lack of interest in life, problematic psychosomatic and psychological defenses are signs of a weakening of mental health. Neurosis and depression also are obvious mental illnesses and psychological troubles. In my life, I would try to improve the level of well-being since the meaningfulness of life and the psychological welfare of a person directly interact with each other (Compton & Hoffman, 2012). Eventually, I have concluded that happiness signifies a conscious attitude to ones own life as well as the establishment of positive relations with others, goals and an optimistic view of the future.

I plan to use a concept of optimal well-being in the everyday life to enhance my own happiness. To achieve welfare, I will try to experience only positive emotions, thoughts, and behavior since the subject of positive psychology is the optimistic perspectives of people. Optimal well-being as one of the main concepts of positive psychology concentrates the person's attention on the development of qualities and properties that lead to the accumulation of positive vital energy in him/her, a necessary resource for overcoming negative mental states (stresses, depression) and preventing them.

Finally, I have highlighted for myself the main ways that will help me be happy in the daily life. They include the correct even distribution of time and energy between work, body, contacts, and fantasy as well as the development of a positive attitude, which I have described in detail in the analysis of ways to become an optimist. Taking responsibility for ourselves, the whole reality is a reflection of our consciousness and way of thinking: we ourselves create our lives, make our own decisions, and learn from them. The positive thinking signifies the ability to see positive changes in one's life, the development of virtues in character traits that bring positive emotions to a person (I have written about them in detail searching the ways to change the character), and the cultivation of positive attitudes helping change the way of thinking, articulating the desires, stimulating positive changes in life.

Conclusion

One of the significant transformations of modern society is the emergence of a constant striving of a person to achieve inner balance and harmony. In fact, people are talking about the actual need for humanity to attain psychological well-being as a fundamental need. In the formation of optimal personal well-being, various socio-psychological conditions for the development and vital activity of the individual play a role. According to the concept of optimal well-being, all human actions are aimed at achieving happiness. It also should be noted that happiness usually means a type of deep satisfaction with life. Overall, optimal well-being does not appear to be individual characteristics and personality traits but contains more complex elements that promote effective functioning in all spheres of life. At the same time, human life is inextricably linked to significant positive and negative events; however, due to the concept of optimal well-being, a person is only set on positive thinking and actions.

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