專四晨讀美文：Choose Optimism

Choose Optimism
If you expect something to turn out badly,
it probably will.
Pessimism is seldom disappointed.
But the same principle also works in reverse.
If you expect good things to happen,
they usually do!
There seems to be a natural cause-and-effect relationship
between optimism and success.
Optimism and pessimism are both powerful forces,
and each of us must choose
which we want to shape our outlook
and our expectations.
There's enough good and bad
in everyone's life-
ample sorrow and happiness,
sufficient joy and pain-
to find a rational basis
for either optimism or pessimism.
We can choose to laugh or cry,
bless or curse.
From which perspective do we want to view life?
Will we look up in hope
or down in despair?
It's all about our decision.
I believe in upward look.
I choose to highlight the positive
and slip right over the negative.
I am an optimist by choice
as much as by nature.
Sure, I know that sorrow exists.
But when all is said and done,
the good in life far outweighs the bad.
An optimistic attitude is not a luxury;
it's a necessity.
The way you look at life
will determine how you feel,
how you perform,
and how well you will get along
with other people.
Conversely, negative thoughts, attitudes, and expectations
feed on themselves;
they become a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Pessimism creates a dismal place where no one wants to live.
Optimism doesn't need to be naive.
You can be an optimist
and still recognize that problems exist
and that some of them are not dealt with easily.
But what a difference optimism makes
in the attitude of the problem solver!
Optimism diverts our attention away from negativism
and channels it into positive,
constructive thinking.
When you're an optimist,
you're more concerned with problem-solving
than with useless carping about issues.