Zig On…

Optimism Helps

I’m truly fortunate because I am optimistic by nature.  I might not spend my last two dollars to buy a money belt, but I am very optimistic about the future.  Dr. William Arthur Ward said that “the doors of opportunity are open to the optimist.  Gates of achievement swing wide for the person who sees infinite possibilities in the insignificant.”

Most of us would rather be around a person who sees hope in the future than one who sees nothing but trouble ahead. I’m talking about the kind of optimism which sees a solution in every problem, optimism that looks for the solution instead of concentrating on the problem.  In his 1828 Dictionary, Noah Webster said that optimism is the “opinion or doctrine that everything in nature is ordered for the best, or, the order of things in the universe that is adapted to produce the most good.”  The pessimist and pessimism are not identified by Noah Webster in his dictionary.

Optimism is a valid approach to life because when we encounter difficulties, if we are optimistic we will immediately start thinking about a solution to the difficulty, whereas the pessimist will look at a problem and ask, “I wonder what’s going to happen next?” or say, “There’s nothing I can do.”  The interesting thing is psychologists will tell you those are self-fulfilling prophecies.  That’s the reason I so love what Dr. Ward says about optimism: “Deep optimism is aware of problems, but recognizes the solution; knows about difficulties, but believes they can be overcome; sees the negative, but accentuates the positive; is exposed to the worst, but expects the best; has reason to complain, but prefers to smile.”

I rest my case and encourage you to think optimistically because if you do, I will SEE YOU AT THE TOP! 

You cannot tailor make the situations in life, but you can tailor make the attitudes to fit those situations before they arise.

Zig Ziglar

Zig Ziglar is a well-loved motivational speaker and author.  You can find more pearls of wisdom from Zig on his weekly newsletter.  To find out more about Zig’s books and CDs and to subscribe to the free newsletter go to his website, www.ziglar.com