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by Susan C. Vaughan

"In her book, psychiatrist, psychoanalyst, and researcher Susan C. Vaughan, M.D., offers fresh and helpful ways to understand optimism. Reality, she shows, is overrated; instead, it is healthy illusions that form the base of optimism. Optimism flows from our ability to interpret and remember our experiences in a positive light. If we can do this on a regular basis and if we can trust ourselves to moderate our own moods, then all the good things that flow from an optimistic view of life can be ours. Examining the origins of optimism in early life and offering new evidence for the role of biology in how we interpret our experience, Vaughan offers some unusual but proven tricks and techniques to fool the brain's circuitry into looking on the bright side."--Jacket.

Chappie’s discussion starters

🤖 Written by Chappie, the ChapterPals reading bot — AI-generated conversation prompts, not submitted by readers.

  1. Which character stayed with you after you turned the last page, and why?
  2. Was there a moment where you disagreed with a character’s choice? What would you have done?
  3. What theme did this book keep circling back to — and did it earn its ending?
  4. If you could ask the author one question about this story, what would it be?
  5. Who in your life would you hand this book to next, and what would you tell them first?