A new year elicits fresh optimism from those who know the joys of rosy thinking. What’s more, the first of January can turn the most ardent pessimist’s thoughts to happy possibilities.

The calendar spreads clean before us in an inviting way, flat empty space bearing days that have not disappointed or discouraged us.

We resolve to organize the days before us. We promise to be better parents, children, spouses, bosses, workers and citizens. This year, we say, we really will stick to the diet, exercise every day, write letters, spend money more wisely and watch less television.

Sociologists, psychologists and Norman Vincent Peale have said for years that people who think positively get along better in life. Research now proves those thinkers are correct, despite a wisecrack by the curmudgeonly Mark Twain, who likened pessimism to wisdom.

Indeed, many great thinkers have turned thoughts to this phenomenon of human nature. Voltaire compared optimism to a &8220;mania for maintaining that all is well when things are going badly.&8221;

Still, optimistic people are revealed to lead more successful lives and stay in better health throughout their lives, says a study released a few years ago by a University of Pittsburgh psychologist. Not surprising, optimists live longer lives.

Optimists handle stress and disappointments better than pessimists. A pessimist who experiences failure is likely to give up by dismissing the entire affair. An optimist, on the other hand, tries to figure out what went wrong and to make a plan for succeeding on the next try.

An optimist, the study shows, knows without any doubt that he can find a way to fix a problem seen only as impossible by the pessimist.

Part of the psychologist’s study included a group of insurance salesmen, some labeled as optimists and some as pessimists. The optimists were found to have sold nearly 40 percent more insurance during their first two years as salesmen than did the pessimists.

Moreover, pessimists were two times more likely to quit their jobs than the optimists were.

The writer McLandburgh Wilson put it this way: &8220;Twixt the optimist and pessimist, the difference is droll: the optimist sees the doughnut, but the pessimist sees the hole.&8221;

Researchers have decided that our propensity for pessimism or optimism probably results from traits shown by the adult person who spends the most time with us when we are children. Further, optimism and pessimism seem to follow a person throughout life.

An 80-year-old optimist is likely to have been an optimistic teenager.

Some good news for the pessimist, though. With the right therapy, his attitude can be reversed.

Early one morning as the turn of 2003 neared, the unmistakable sound of a rooster crowing rose above threatening whirs of wind and rain. The mix of gloom and cheer laid out choices as clear as the blank calendar days ahead.

There in the worst of wintry circumstances, the rooster welcomed the dawn in his inimitable upbeat manner. In a spirit worthy of the new year, choosing to go along with the rooster makes good sense, one day at a time and with a loud hurrah for all the possibilities ahead.

Joan Gandy

is community editor for The Democrat. She can be reached at 445-3549 or by e-mail at joan.

gandy@natchezdemocrat.com

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