Developing and cultivating a positive mental attitude comes from looking at your world differently and purposefully. Optimism in positive psychology is considered a core virtue. For example, wisdom, knowledge, courage, love, humanity, justice, temperance, spirituality, and transcendence are core values that create optimism. Medicine and psychology examines the body and mind, but often neglect the spiritual realm, which is more difficult to measure.

The feeling of well-being that has been discussed with the use of complementary therapies — its effect on the immune system, easing side effects of cancer treatment, and the enhanced feeling — promote a deeper relaxation response. This deep relaxation response is also one of the outcomes of practicing positive psychology. It is a general feeling of life-force energy that promotes health and well-being.

Having a positive attitude does not cure your breast cancer, but can make the journey more bearable for you. Many of us can remember older relatives who lived through the Depression and we look at them as people of strength and courage who became resilient through enduring their circumstances. The reality is that those troubled times are what brought that generation's inner strengths to the forefront. You acquire strength through experiences in life and by adapting and changing to survive.

Good health is considered one of the keys to happiness and well-being. However, cultivating learned optimism is also a key to achieving good health. Consider for example, the pessimistic view-point — “Having breast cancer is overwhelming, I can't believe I have breast cancer” — versus an optimistic viewpoint — “I am living with breast cancer right now in my life and I am going to get through it.”

Cultivating an attitude of gratitude and hope can be challenging when going through breast cancer treatment. To cultivate means just that — it is a learned and acquired talent that anyone can nurture and grow within themselves. To cultivate optimism and hope is to look at life differently. Review your signature strengths and virtues (those qualities that you know in your heart that you possess). By engaging those qualities in your current situation, you can foster feelings of well-being and strength. Instead of your daily “things to do” list, keep a “gratitude” list. No matter what situation you find yourself in, there are people in your life, strengths and virtues you possess, for which you can exercise the spirit of gratitude.

Developing strengths and virtues focuses on growth of the inner being and not on those things that are physical and outward, such as one's appearance. Therefore, when loss seems to be the residing theme — loss of your previous life as you know it, loss of your perception of good health, and perhaps the loss of your breasts and the temporary loss of your hair — you can focus on inner growth of your signature strengths and virtues. In reality, our outward physical appearances decline with age and focusing on developing our inner strengths and virtues means that they will only get better with time.