The Practice of Optimism,
10/16/2009
The Practice of Optimism
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10/16/2009
Today, I suggest practicing the art of optimism. Being optimistic is not ignoring problems; it's deciding to see them as secondary to a good life. Every day, the sun rises and the world turns. The universe continues to work. In the long term, things will work out.
Your personal life may not be as rosy. You may have serious problems--in health, relationship, or finances. How to be optimistic with no job, or a serious illness, or a broken relationship? Part of the secret is to reprogram your thoughts. Decide on how you want your mind to work. Maybe you'd like to see a problem, and instead of collapsing in front of it, you want to say "I can handle this." My advice: make that phrase instinctive.
For the next 7 days, write it, over and over again. Pick one time a day to write it out (longhand, not typing)--at least 7 times. Or write it out 3 times several times a day. If you keep putting optimistic thoughts in front of your brain, when problems come up, those are the thoughts you'll grab.
Seeing your glass half full can take time, especially if you've seen life as hard and depressing. But we are blessed with the ability to learn new things, and our brains are sponges. Take a look at what you put in your sponge, and make the info as positive as you can!
Practice, Practice, Practice
10/12/2009
Practice, practice, practice
10/12/2009
I once read an anecdote of someone complimenting a well-known pianist, and then saying "I would give my life to play like that." To which the pianist replied, "I did." I've just come back from my church's Feast of Tabernacles, which in addition to being a time to worship God, is a sort of "Leadership Conference" where we learn how to better live what we believe. Almost the minute we got home, simple challenges (car trouble, the mess of reorganizing after a long trip, phone calls to return, etc.) left me discouraged. I had left the meeting so energized, full of plans to make my life more useful, and full of service and love and in line with my sense of purpose, and then--POOF!--I was depressed, and off my path to being a better me.
After mucking around in self-pity for a while, I saw that this was life. LIke the pianist, you give your life for something--something you love, something you hate, or something you fall into. If you try to give your life to your ideals, you will have setbacks, but if you have the right ideals, you will have a great life. You have problems, sometimes they will defeat you, then you get back up. Like a pianist working on a piece, it's not all beautiful music. There are boring, repetive scales to be done, there are times when your fingers hit the wrong note and the whole piece klonks--there are even those awful times when the piece just won't play properly and you have to start from scratch in front of startled audience. Recoup, reconsider, reorganize--and do it again, and better.
All life work this way. In health, we all try for that perfect blend of exercise, diet, and stress-management that will leave us full of energy and able to do what we want. But sometimes we fall, and fail. Stress keeps us up at night or affects our digestion; that really spectacular dessert leaves our diet in temporary shambles; or extra work crowds out gym time. One slip up is not a failure, just as hitting the occassional wrong note does not make you a bad pianist; only in makiing the one event habit do we fail to be healthy. So if you have been sidelined in your health and life goals, don't give up! Practice, practice, practice your way to the life you believe in.
