Good Morning,
I was having trouble sleeping so I started to read (there's a surprise...). My current read is 'Leadership the Eleanor Roosevelt Way" by Robin Gerber (http://www.amazon.com/Leadership-Eleanor-Roosevelt-Way-Strategies/dp/0735203245). In the section on Embracing risk, there is an Eleanor Roosevelt quote which hits the subject of Optimism on the head:
"It is true that I am fundamentally an optimist, that I am congenitally hopeful. I do not believe that good always conquors evil, because I have lived a long time in the world and seen that it is not true. I do not seek the pot of gold at the foot of the rainbow or think that 'everything will have a happy ending' because I would like it to. It is not wishful thinking that makes me a hopeful woman. Over and over, I have seen, under the most improbable circumstances, that man can remake himself, that he can even remake his world if he cares enough to try."
That quote gives me shivers of excitement. The last part alone is earth shaking: Those who try can remake their world.
Ponder that for a moment.
Being an optimist is not just simply looking at the world in a glass half full way. That is simply ignorance.
An Optimist looks at the world knowing the realities of life and is willing to take a calculated risk to make a difference because they are willing to try. Those who try, then can remake their world.
Further, an Optimist looks at the world seeing what could be, if we would just try, knowing that somethings may not be possible now, but given the time and opportunity, may be possible in the future.
Dr. Robert Schuler teaches us to remove the word 'Impossible' from our vocabulary. That in and of itself may be dangerous act, but couple that with Eleanor Roosevelt's quote above, and we can see that the world is our oyster should we take a realistic mindset, get our facts together, roll up our sleeves and get to work.
This one quote redefined my understanding of being an Optimist and I quite like it.
I hope you do too.
Enjoy!
Sanford Berenberg
Sanford@berenberg.net
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