My Two Cents
I’ve never been accused of being a cup-half-full, pollyana-ish, life is golden optimist. In fact, much to the chagrin of my family, I’m typically quite the opposite. Even when I do offer compliments, there’s usually a note of sarcasm, irony or snark tucked in.
It doesn’t make me proud, but it is who I am.
The past few months, and specifically the past 10 days, have provided plenty of opportunities to engage my not so good traits into my daily conversations, but they have also reminded me that I’m not really accomplishing anything by being negative.
For the past 25 years, brothers Bert Jacobs and John Jacobs have built a T-shirt empire — based around three words and a stick figure — that thrives on one simple message: Life is good.
And by thrive, I mean created a $100 million per year business.
People relate to optimism.
According to an article by Susanna Newsonen, MAPP, on the website psychologytoday.com, one way to focus to optimism is to also address how a pessimist may look at a situation.
“Play with both the pessimistic and optimistic way of thinking,” she wrote. A few questions to help with the exercise are: “Am I interpreting a situation as being permanent and enduring — or is it actually temporary. Am I turning one thing into a universal or general truth — or is the problem particular to that one thing? Am I putting all the blame on myself — or were there multiple variables at play?
She wrote that adopting a positive outlook isn’t about ignoring facts or passing on blame to someone else.
“It’s about having a more rational, moderated interpretation of the challenges you are faced with,” she wrote.
What I appreciated about her piece was that she said it was OK to acknowledge the pessimist in ourselves while trying to form a healthier outlook.
Newsonen said that an optimist looks at life through three lenses: Problems are temporary and can be resolved; problems are particular to that event/person/experience, not related to everything; and that problems are external and not a reflection of who you are.
Writer Henrik Edberg offered the following tips to being more optimistic.
1. Find the optimistic viewpoint in a negative situation.
2. Cultivate and live in a positive environment.
3. Go slowly.
4. Don’t make a mountain out of a molehill.
5. Don’t let vague fears hold you back from doing what you want.
6. Add value and positivity to someone else’s life.
7. Exercise regularly and eat and sleep well.
8. Learn to take criticism in a healthy way.
9. If something still gets under your skin then know what to do.
10. Start your day in a positive way.
11. Mindfully move through your day.
During these crazy times it’s very easy to ignore Dale Carnegie’s advice that we should refrain from complaining, condemning or criticizing. After all, who wants to spend time around people who do that?
But we also don’t need to ignore the reality that exists around us.
According to an article on the Jacobs brothers, they were worried how to respond to the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on our nation.
So they created a T-shirt adorned with an American Flag and donated proceeds to charity.
“Our business didn’t just survive that year, it thrived,” Bert Jacobs told USA Today. “We didn’t even invent ‘Life is good.’ We just happened to get lucky.”
Bill Crist is the publisher of The Snyder News. Comments may be emailed to publisher@thesnydernews.com.