Optimistic Thinking

This thought discusses two things that are for certain in life. While the examples of these two things may make you smile, the wisdom of the message is one worth considering.

Funny Words of Wisdom
Optimistic Thinking
Author: Byron Pulsifer, © 2012

There are two things for certain in life - well maybe more than two - but if you are still above the ground, these two things are a certain.

You either are an optimist or you are a pessimist. This is not to say that there aren't some shades of gray around the edges but for the most part, you will fall more significantly on one side of the fence or the other. You won't last long if you think you can sit astride the fence - your real self will come through time and time again.

Here are a few examples; see where you fit in. And, remember this as you go through this list - you can always change - that change is a choice you have to make.

- When it rains, you are either ticked off because you can't go out, or you are thankful that the rain waters the lawn for free, and that it helps top up the water table.
- When your car needs a brake job, you are either upset because you have to pay money for repairs, or you are thankful that you arranged to have it fixed before you were in an accident because of poor braking.
- You come home hoping to relax but know you have to complete work for your job that can't wait. You can either moan or complain that you still have to work at home or you can be thankful that you have a job when so many others would gladly change places with you.
- You have to walk down to the corner store to get some milk you forgot to pick up knowing that your car is being used by one of your family members. You either think about having to walk when you really don't feel like it, or you can think about the fact that at least you have the health and the mobility to walk when many others are unable to move at all.
- You need to repair one window at the side of your house because it is leaking. You either detest the thought that you have to go out and get silicone to patch it and resent the time it takes away from watching the football game, or you can think about how lucky you are to live in a country where you not only have a home but have windows when so many millions have no roof over their head at all.

Is there a need to give you more examples? I don't think so.

A pessimist always sees the negatives while an optimist always sees the good. Which would you rather be? And, if you have a family, would you rather model an optimistic attitude, or would you rather show your family members how to be a pessimist?

A case in point is that of a young couple who are facing some financial challenges that include mounting credit card debt, and the teak of finding enough money for groceries and to pay the mortgage. It isn’t that they are necessarily frivolous with their money but it has more to do with the attitude of each partner. One partner sees opportunity to do things that can help them over the long run whereas the other partner sees only current problems and no solutions.

This is not an uncommon occurrence but a situation that needs to be resolved before the relationship is torn apart. But, where do you start, and what do you do to help the pessimist start to change?

Part of the process to change to a more optimistic outlook is to introduce the pessimist to the process of developing solutions and not to fixate solely on the problem as if every problem is a dead end to a resolution. This process will take time but the whole strategy here is to show that for every problem there is a solution, and it is only a matter of never discounting any possibility until it is thoroughly and objectively analyzed.

And, the young couple I spoke about is now in the process of examining several solutions to their financial issues and this optimist process all started out by one party outlining several different strategies that were unknown at first to the other. This process takes time so it is always a good thing to be patient but persistent.