My dog Guy will be 14 years old this month. His gait is a bit unsteady now and he lost his hearing about a year ago, but he is my role model. The physical challenges of old age has not changed him one bit. He consistently believes with all his heart that he will be taken out for walks and that good food will appear in his bowl, he will get treats and belly rubs persists and maintains his belief even after repeated failure, takes action to improve his situation, and is ever hopeful. He is successful and happy.
He is not consumed with false optimism. If he is left at home, he does not deny that harsh reality. He simply accepts it and has faith that with persistent work at being a good dog he will prevail. His optimism includes hard work and passion (yes, he has great passion about walks and food). Even though Thomas Edison was not a dog, Guy is a big fan. Edison had 1800 failed experiments before inventing the light bulb. Guy has been left home at least that many times, and still celebrates each outing with pure joy.
If you would like to improve your health, happiness and level of success by becoming an optimist, you can, even if you have the disadvantage of being a human. Thomas Edison did.
There are three elements essential to being an optimist; action, imagination, and rational thinking. These elements work together and feed off of each other. So if we take action and work hard, we create success, which motivates us to work hard. And if we can imagine or visualize our success our minds will help us create an external reality to match our internal reality.
Rational thought is a skill that you can hone. You may believe that rational thinkers cannot possibly be optimistic in today's world, but that is not the case. In fact, much pessimism reflects distorted thinking. Some examples of distorted thinking are to believe that the way things are now are the way they will always be or that we are in an all or nothing situation. We do not see the whole picture, and dismiss the positive aspects of a situation.
How can you have realistic optimism? Along with action and imagination, know that reality is created by what we focus on, the questions that we ask. So, ask yourself: am I magnifying, minimizing, ignoring part of the picture?
Successful, happy people and dogs perceive the world as optimists. They see the negative as temporary and as opportunities to learn, and the positive as a catalyst to enhance and celebrate. So consider taking Guy on as your role model too!
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