60 Seconds – Optimism

Jacques Lipschitz, the sculptor, spent his youth in Paris, where he was a close friend of Soutine, Madigliani and Chagall. One day, a friend complained that he was dissatisfied with the light he painted on the canvases, and he went to Morocco, seeking a change in light. He found, however, that the light in the Moroccan canvasses were no different. Lipschitz then advised him, “An artist’s light comes from within, not from without.”

In Romans 12:12, Paul spoke of “Rejoicing in hope.” The word “hope” means “to anticipate, expectation or confidence.” Thayer’s Greek Lexicon defines it as “expectation of good, joyful and confident expectation.” Haddon Robinson stated, “In any given situation, what you are determines what you see; what you see determines what you do.”

In his ‘Creed For Optimists’, Christian D. Larsen gave the following advice:

1. Be so strong that nothing can disturb your peace of mind.

2. Talk health, happiness, and prosperity to every person you meet.

3. Make all your friends feel there is something special about them.

4. Look at the sunny side of everything.

5. Think only of the best, work only for the best, and expect only the best.

6. Be as enthusiastic about the success of others as you are about your own.

7. Forget the mistakes of the past, and press on to the greater achievements of the future.

8. Give everyone a smile.

9. Spend so much time improving yourself that you have no time left to criticize others.

10. Be too big for worry and too noble for anger.

Frank Lloyd Wright, a genius who lived a full, rich life and whose contributions in architecture will live on and on, once wrote: “The longer I live the more beautiful life becomes. If you foolishly ignore beauty, you’ll soon find yourself without it. Your life will be impoverished. But if you wisely invest in beauty, it will remain with you all the days of your life.”

“Exercise conscious thought-control” (John A. Schindler, M.D.).