Optimism Beats the Alternative

I am a born optimist. It's how I choose to live my life and it saddens me to think of those who can only see negatives. You know this type of person because they are difficult to be around, and  unfortunately, they are also the people most in need of God's love and yours.

When Jesus said to "love one another as I have loved you," he gave us a difficult command. Living your life in simple terms to "love your neighbor as yourself" and "... do to others what you would have them do to you" (Matthew 7:12 NIV) is a great way to live, but it doesn't come easy. Perhaps the biggest opposition to that is judgment, and we humans are great at it!

We judge with both prejudice and pride, and often do so unknowingly. Sometimes there are even seemingly innocent influences that we don't even notice. If you are surrounded by, listen to, and read negatives all day long, that is definitely going to slant your outlook on life.

If you listen to music or play video games that promote violence, or watch movies and shows that exploit and degrade others, it can't help but influence you. It might even be a joke, or a TV reality show that documents people at their worst behavior. If you are entertained by those kinds of things, just be cognizant of how you might generalize people who possess a tiny resemblance to those negatives.

The key to remaining optimistic is to keep things in perspective. Just because you hear about atrocities doesn't make the entire world a bad place, especially when there is so much good we can do. In fact, I firmly believe that our humanity is best shown when we feel outrage upon learning of bad things because if most of us didn't do the right things, this world would be intolerable.

Instead of negatives, try reading great inspirational magazines such as Living World at: Living Word Magazine and watching shows such as "The Secret Millionaire." Make note of the many positive things that happen, and live to serve others. No one can wallow in self pity if the focus is on others.

Proverbs 11:27 (NIV) states: "He who seeks good finds goodwill, but evil comes to him who searches for it." As for me, I'd rather be an optimist and choose the good.