Optimism as Radical

“Optimism… is the brave choice. And it is most needed now, in the face of despair. Optimism is our instinct to inhale while suffocating. Our need to declare what needs to be in the face of what is… optimism is not uncool; it is rebellious and daring and vital.” --Guillermo del Toro

Count on a couple of blogs about this from me. Optimism is indeed radical: those who experienced challenging times can easily get stuck in the despair, the pessimism, and the debris left behind by the pain. I think pessimism is what sucks us of healing, of the ability to rid ourselves of images of clutter and rubbish that we may manifest outwardly (or inwardly).

Just as organizations have to be optimistic about their futures (and plan and act) so do we. Balancing the pain with the potential is tough. Everything in us wants to be comforted, cared for, made to be “right” and for the other person to be “wrong” so we can feel vindicated.

In truth our vindication comes not from internalizing the “wrong,” but from setting our eyes on what is right, what is good, what is possible, and what we look like whole--instead of holding up the “broken” sign we often love.

Forget what media tells us: our persistence, our patience, and our promise to ourselves about who we are becoming relies on an optimism that is relentless--and that plans and acts in the direction of wholeness. Check your holiday expectations and put on your Teflon! Hold fast to your optimism.