Is optimism a muscle that can be strengthened through exercise? If so, here are seven important moves to master.

Does optimism come from gratitude or does gratitude come from optimism?

1. THEY EXPRESS GRATITUDE

Being appreciative of big blessings isn’t enough; Mezzapelle says optimists are grateful for the smallest things in life.

"The sun coming up in morning, your child or dog excited to see you—being thankful about the littlest thing makes the bigger things that much better," he says.

Optimists also find good in hardships, obstacles, and failures, because these are the situations that give you strength and resilience: "When optimists stumble across problems, it doesn’t seem as bad because they’ve learned to always find the silver linings," Mezzapelle says.