I've been giving some thought lately to optimism and pessimism. Basically, these are attitudes. Attitudes that shape and formulate our lives. In short, our optimism or pessimism is this: The way we interpret the past. The way we experience and view the present. The way we imagine the future.
Have you given much thought about how your attitude, whether you are an optimist or a pessimist, affects your family, business, church, organization or school? Have you thought about how it affects you personally?
What is optimism? It is a belief that things in our past were good for us, even if that means they were hard and taught us lessons. It is also the belief that things will be better in the future.
Here are some contrasts between optimism and pessimism and how they affect us:
Optimism breathes life. Pessimism drains you.
Optimism helps you to take needed risks. Pessimism plays it safe and doesn't accomplish much.
Optimism improves those around you. Pessimism drags them down.
Optimism inspires people. Pessimism deflates people.
There is only one way that optimism and pessimism are the same, and that is they are both self-fulfilling. If you are an optimist, you will generally find that good things happen to you. And if you are a pessimist, you will find yourself in the not-so-good situations more often than not.
So can a person just become an optimist? I believe with practice YES. We can choose to look at the world any way we want to. We can choose to look at the world and think the worst, or we can tell ourselves the good things about each situation. As you find yourself looking at your life, begin to view it through the eyes of an optimist, and you will reap the rewards, and so will the people around you.
There are tremendous benefits to being an optimist. But there are some pessimists out there who will say, "But that isn't realistic." I say "Who cares?" If things go awry, at least I have spent my time beforehand enjoying life and not worrying about it. And, being an optimist, I would view the "negative" situation as an opportunity to learn. So I can even look forward to my failures because they will be stepping stones to my future.
Have you given much thought about how your attitude, whether you are an optimist or a pessimist, affects your family, business, church, organization or school? Have you thought about how it affects you personally?
What is optimism? It is a belief that things in our past were good for us, even if that means they were hard and taught us lessons. It is also the belief that things will be better in the future.
Here are some contrasts between optimism and pessimism and how they affect us:
Optimism breathes life. Pessimism drains you.
Optimism helps you to take needed risks. Pessimism plays it safe and doesn't accomplish much.
Optimism improves those around you. Pessimism drags them down.
Optimism inspires people. Pessimism deflates people.
There is only one way that optimism and pessimism are the same, and that is they are both self-fulfilling. If you are an optimist, you will generally find that good things happen to you. And if you are a pessimist, you will find yourself in the not-so-good situations more often than not.
So can a person just become an optimist? I believe with practice YES. We can choose to look at the world any way we want to. We can choose to look at the world and think the worst, or we can tell ourselves the good things about each situation. As you find yourself looking at your life, begin to view it through the eyes of an optimist, and you will reap the rewards, and so will the people around you.
There are tremendous benefits to being an optimist. But there are some pessimists out there who will say, "But that isn't realistic." I say "Who cares?" If things go awry, at least I have spent my time beforehand enjoying life and not worrying about it. And, being an optimist, I would view the "negative" situation as an opportunity to learn. So I can even look forward to my failures because they will be stepping stones to my future.
