<human>: Recently, my boyfriend has been under a lot of stress.  I asked him what I could do to help alleviate his stress, expecting him to say something along the lines of "do more dishes, make the bed every morning, etc."

However, he said, "I wish you would be a more optimistic person."

I had a pretty tumultuous childhood with my parents taking ten years to get divorced and a rather abusive mother.  I grew up extremely overweight and was often the subject of ridicule.  When I turned eighteen, I was in a extremely abusive relationship with an Iraq War veteran with PTSD.

The only way I was able to deal with all of this was by having a sense of humor.  However, over the years, I went from having a sense of humor to having an extremely sarcastic sense of humor to having an extremely dry, sarcastic sense of humor.  I often come across as cold and pessimistic, but in my head, I actually am somewhat happy and find most things hilarious.

I've tried wearing a bracelet to remind myself to be optimistic, like some kind of W.W.J.D. bracelet.  I've tried leaving post-it notes all over the place that say things like, "Choose your attitude!"  Nothing is working.  I keep reverting back to saying sarcastic things and coming across as pessimistic.  Any advice?

Could you distill the essence of the text into 1-3 sentences?
<bot>: Boyfriend asked me to be more optimistic.  I am legitimately having trouble with this request.  Please, help. :(