Accentuate the Positive – Thorough Minded Optimism
by Glenn Capelli
It seems some folk have the Hanrahan gene born into them and can always be found focusing on the dark side of life. ‘We’ll all be ruined’ said Hanrahan, no matter what the situation. These are the folk who see the glass half empty.
Other folk see the glass half full. They respond to situations with a ‘we can work it out’ mentality and whenever things are bad and can really make you sad they always look on the bright side of life. They believe that life is too short for fussing and fighting my friend.
Some others simply see that the wrong sized vessel has been chosen for the task. These are the pragmatic realists.
Personally I am B negative by blood group and B positive by effort and disposition. I normally come from a base of optimism. My hero as a teen was Anne Frank. In her diary she wrote ‘despite all that has happened’ – meaning the horrors of World War 2, the eradication of Jewish people and multitudes of others – ‘I still believe that people are good at heart’. Like Anne Frank my optimism is not a Pollyanna one that thinks that everything will be sweet and beautiful. It is more a thorough minded one.
In fact, years ago I read The Power of Optimism by Alan Loy McGinnis and it inspired a list of mind sets for a Thorough Minded Optimism:
• I am seldom surprised by trouble in my life
• I look for partial solutions all the time
• I like to share the good news not the bad
• I am cheerful even when I’m feeling sad
• I interrupt any negative trains of thought
• I accept that some things in me are sometimes fraught
• I accept what it is that cannot be changed
• Yet I know that sharing love can change my brain
• I imagine and rehearse success from the start
• I refresh my spirit and I exercise my heart
Whatever accent we have, we need to be aware of negatives, know that some things are murky in-betweens but as best as possible learn to accentuate the positives and live with a daily sense of appreciation.
Let the good times roll.
Glenn Capelli is the author of Thinking Caps book and radio pieces as well as being a top Keynote Speaker. www.glenncapelli.com. You can contact Glenn at glenn@glenncapelli.com