Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Sanity Tip—Optimism
While growing up my grandma repeatedly quoted to me the ancient Greek saying, There is nothing bad without some good mixed in with it. (The way you say it in Greek is, Outhen kakon amiges kalou.) The English equivalent is, Every cloud has a silver lining. So since early on in my life I was taught to identify positives in the midst of negatives. This practice has contributed greatly to my sanity to this day.
What always amazes me is the power of perspective, the fact that how I evaluate something—as good or bad—can affect my life for better or for worse. It is also very sobering that it is up to me whether I fixate my mind on the glass being half full or half empty. No one else can do it for me.
So I’ve learned to remind myself to look at mistakes as learning opportunities and closed doors as blessings in disguise. I may have to grit my teeth to get there, and even fake it till I make it sometimes, but when I get there I invariably find it to be a much better place than where I was before. If someone asks me, Do you think this event is good or bad? I reply, Yes. I know that if I see something as bad and expect bad outcomes, I’ll get demoralized and give up. And of course it will turn out to be a bad deal for me. If I maintain, however, that good can come out of the situation, I hang onto hope, persevere, do the right thing, and eventually identify blessings and opportunities for progress.
So, the bottom line is that how we respond to something may prove to be much more important, critical in fact, than what happens to us. And how we choose to respond is the responsibility of each one of us.
What always amazes me is the power of perspective, the fact that how I evaluate something—as good or bad—can affect my life for better or for worse. It is also very sobering that it is up to me whether I fixate my mind on the glass being half full or half empty. No one else can do it for me.
So I’ve learned to remind myself to look at mistakes as learning opportunities and closed doors as blessings in disguise. I may have to grit my teeth to get there, and even fake it till I make it sometimes, but when I get there I invariably find it to be a much better place than where I was before. If someone asks me, Do you think this event is good or bad? I reply, Yes. I know that if I see something as bad and expect bad outcomes, I’ll get demoralized and give up. And of course it will turn out to be a bad deal for me. If I maintain, however, that good can come out of the situation, I hang onto hope, persevere, do the right thing, and eventually identify blessings and opportunities for progress.
So, the bottom line is that how we respond to something may prove to be much more important, critical in fact, than what happens to us. And how we choose to respond is the responsibility of each one of us.
