Look around you. What do you see? Hurricanes, fires, mass shootings, political shenanigans, incivility, disrespect, abuse and fear? The list goes on.
What are you doing about it? There’s so much … where can you start? Some of us are volunteering to help disaster victims. Others are supporting relief efforts financially. Many have posted #metoo on their Twitter or Facebook accounts.
This is a time in which a good dollop of resilience can make a difference in how you are dealing with the melee. A time when grit is good. When optimism can help both you and those around you.
To inspire my own optimism, I pulled out a blog post from last August in which I quoted Christian D. Larson’s “Creed for Optimists,” written in 1912.
Here it is again.
Promise yourself to:
- Be so strong that nothing can disturb your peace of mind.
- Talk health, happiness and prosperity to every person you meet.
- Make all your friends feel there is something special in them.
- Think only of the best, work only for the best and expect only the best.
- Be as enthusiastic about the success of others as you are about your own.
- Forget the mistakes of the past and press on to the greater achievements of the future.
- Give everyone a smile.
- Spend so much time improving yourself that you have no time left to criticize others.
- Be too large for worry, too noble for anger, too strong for fear and too happy to permit the presence of trouble.
- Think well of yourself and proclaim this fact to the world—not in loud words—but in great deeds.
- Live in the faith that the whole world is on your side, so long as you are true to the best that is in you.
While this may seem frivolous in light of all that is happening, what would be possible if you were to incorporate just one or two of these points into your daily life? Would positivity spread? I’m not suggesting you give up on any other efforts to help with the negatives—just try adding one or two of these positives.
I’ll do the same.
Thank you for this! It’s good to remember that although we may sometimes feel overwhelmed and/or helpless with the negatives, there are indirect things we can do to improve not only our lives, but those around us. If enough people do this, we will still be helping with those negatives.
You are so right, Brooke! Thank you for sharing your support.