The High Road of Optimism – Sunday, September 18, 1983
Why is it that some people seem to roll pleasantly down the highways of life while others of us trudge a weary road from one problem to the next?
The difference is often mostly a matter of viewpoint. Miguel De Unamuno wrote, “It is not usually our ideas that make us optimists or pessimists, but it is our optimism or pessimism…that makes our ideas.”1
Life will never be a succession of unending thrills and excitements. The world was never designed that way, and if it were, we would never learn the things we came here to learn.
There will be trials and tragedies for all of us, but they needn’t dictate our outlook on the world or our inner feelings. Our disposition is our own decision.
So how do we go about getting more smiles and fewer frowns out of life? Perhaps two things can help us: perspective and focus.
The proper perspective is vital to our peace of mind. It is easy in the course of a pressure-packed day to turn a broken shoelace, a stalled car, a thoughtless word into a major tragedy. We need to work constantly to take the long view. Is this problem something that will ruin our lives, or something that we will find humorous in a few weeks or months? Remember, time not only tends to heal wounds, it also gives us the perspective to see the humorous side of the human predicament, to give us a more balanced view of our problems.
The second great key to optimism is to take the focus of our attention off our own needs, wants and desires and place it on others. No good fortune is big enough to satisfy us, no difficulty is too small to upset us, as long as we see ourselves as the center of the universe. But as we take our attention away from ourselves and point our efforts toward helping others, the unhappiness of our lives magically melts away. Jesus’ wise counsel was that we love our neighbor as ourselves.2 This attitude will brighten both our neighbor’s lives and our own.
Perhaps the greatest key to optimism and a happy life is to remember that the Lord loves us and watches over us. There is no tragedy He cannot turn to our good. There is no darkness He cannot turn to light if we will turn to Him.
So let us put our troubles in perspective, focus our attention on others and see the bright sunshine beaming just beyond the present clouds.
1 Miguel De Unamuno, Tragic Sense of Life, quoted In The Penguin Dictionary of Modern Quotations J.M. and M.J. Cohen, eds., Penguin Books, Baltimore Maryland 1971 p 231
2 New Testament, Luke 10:27
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September 18, 1983
Broadcast Number 2,822