Barack Obama, a former US president and author, serves as an example to many. Obama, 61, disclosed the key to his optimistic outlook on life in a recent interview.

Obama was asked by comedian Hasan Minhaj if the current state of affairs, including the environmental disaster, anti-abortion laws, LGBTQ+ rights, and others, ever make him feel down or hopeless. In response, Obama remarked, “I do try to maintain some perspective… Ask your parents or your grandparents whether this is the worst that they’ve seen. I’m pretty sure that between World War I, World War II, the Great Depression— we can go through the list of moments that are significantly worse than this.”

Obama, however, asserted that he believes in adopting a “glass half full” perspective on life as opposed to concentrating on the drawbacks. As a result, he is better able to be grateful for life.

He continued by saying that most people, including himself, grew up in more optimistic and better times than the ones we currently live in. Therefore, it may be challenging for many of us to maintain our optimism in the face of adversity.

. “I grew up in this anomalous stretch of time in which, even though bad things were happening, for the most part, the trajectory of humanity was things were getting better…We were becoming less racist and less sexist and less homophobic… there was this enormous sense that many of the ills of humanity were behind us,” he added.

But cultivating a happy outlook on life is a skill that can be learned over time with practise.