Optimism and Faith

“Optimism is the FAITH that leads to achievement. Nothing can be done without hope and confidence.” — Helen Keller

Helen Keller hit the nail on the head with the above statement. Here was a lady that was deaf, dumb, and blind, i.e., couldn’t see, hear, or speak yet, she found the ability to be optimistic about life. It was not so at the beginning of her life. She was angry at everyone, including God, because she had been given so much less than all of those around her. She was, by all standards, extremely handicapped in comparison to the majority of the world. As a result of her handicaps, her ability to learn was greatly diminished. Though she had been short changed, she chose not to stay that way. Instead over time, she took on an optimistic attitude. As a result of her optimism, she helped pave the way for many like her, to be able to communicate and interact with all others.

Instead of remaining angry and bitter, she wound up changing her perspective on life. She took on an attitude of OPTIMISM whereas, she previously had a very pessimistic attitude toward life. Now if she can take on an attitude of optimism, why can’t we do the same? Why can’t we make our philosophy one that believes all will work to our good? That is the outlook and attitude of an optimist. It is the attitude and outlook of a winner.

Let’s think through what she said, “Optimism IS THE FAITH that leads to achievement.” Webster’s Dictionary says OPTIMISM means: ”hopefulness and confidence about the future or the successful outcome of something.” The Bible says, “Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things NOT SEEN.” Both of these are saying the same thing and yet it seems we don’t often get it. If optimism is the faith then it would appear pessimism is the fear. We need to be and remain optimistic about that which we strive to achieve or accomplish. Stated another way, we need to be hopeful all will work to our benefit. We need to be confident all things will work to our good. We need to keep the confidence, hope, and faith all will be well. We need to do as Thomas Alva Edison did when he would try something 9,999 times and have it fail only to say he now knew 9,999 ways it doesn’t work. He wasn’t discouraged. He didn’t lose hope. His confidence was not dashed, he believed he was on the right path and if he stayed at it, he would discover that which for the time was eluding him.

You might be among those that think, “More often than not things don’t work to my good so I quit believing they would. Every time I believed something good would happen, I was only let down when it didn’t happen. So I don’t bother anymore.” How sad. When you were a child you didn’t think that way. As a child you would fail 2, 3 , 4 or more times but you didn’t stop. You kept trying until you succeeded. That is why The Master Teacher said, “Unless you become as a little child…” Why did He say this? Because children believe all things are possible and do not take NO for an answer. They will ask over and over and over again until they wear you down in order to get what they want and yet, for some reason once we get older we drop that optimistic attitude and pick up a pessimistic one. This is so we won’t be disappointed or hurt anymore. Children don’t think of the disappointment, they think of the goal and or accomplishment. They think of doing what they see others already doing and want to do the same.

In like manner, we must do the same. We must take on that positive, optimistic attitude of a child, if we are to continue to grow in life and become more tomorrow than we are today. If we do not take on this type of attitude, but take on a pessimistic one, we will have allowed our hope and confidence to be dashed against the rocks and shipwrecked. We will have nothing to power us through the opposition that faces and challenges all of us. Without hope and confidence we will have no fuel to make things happen. So, keep the childlike faith and keep believing all will work to your good, and it will. Trust me, it will.

Best of LUCK as you
Labor Under Correct Knowledge…

Respectfully,

Rick Cox