I observed that many people don't really get optimism, so here's a story that might clear your concept.
I read this in the book good to great by Jim Collins and it was called Stockdale paradox.
Jim Stockdale was a US military officer and he was held captive for eight years during the Vietnam War. Once he was released he wrote a book describing his eight years in hell. Jim Collins the author of the book good to great was greatly moved by Stockdale’s book and craved to meet him. So he set out and managed to arrange an interview with Stockdale. In the interview Jim asked Stockdale.
"Sir when I was reading your book I knew the end was a happy one, I knew that you are alive and out of prison. You are probably a hell of an optimist."
Stockdale smiled and said, ' Oh I wasn’t an optimist, all the optimist died."
Jim was taken aback by that answer and asked, "How so?"
"Well all the optimist kept thinking that they will be out by next Christmas and kept praying to God to pull them of their misery and each and every one of them died."
"So how did you get out?" Jim asked.
"Well the fact was simple that we were not getting out until the was subsided so I just tried spreading the news that we are not getting out by next Christmas so deal with it."
The words of Stockdale changed my definition of an optimist. Being an optimist is not about pretending that everything is all right, in times of misery. Being an optimist is to accept the truth and positively think about what to do about you situation. If a man wants to lose weight, he must take the necessary steps like exercising, eating healthy food etc. And all the while as he does this labour he must think positively that his effort would pay of. That is being an optimist.
I read this in the book good to great by Jim Collins and it was called Stockdale paradox.
Jim Stockdale was a US military officer and he was held captive for eight years during the Vietnam War. Once he was released he wrote a book describing his eight years in hell. Jim Collins the author of the book good to great was greatly moved by Stockdale’s book and craved to meet him. So he set out and managed to arrange an interview with Stockdale. In the interview Jim asked Stockdale.
"Sir when I was reading your book I knew the end was a happy one, I knew that you are alive and out of prison. You are probably a hell of an optimist."
Stockdale smiled and said, ' Oh I wasn’t an optimist, all the optimist died."
Jim was taken aback by that answer and asked, "How so?"
"Well all the optimist kept thinking that they will be out by next Christmas and kept praying to God to pull them of their misery and each and every one of them died."
"So how did you get out?" Jim asked.
"Well the fact was simple that we were not getting out until the was subsided so I just tried spreading the news that we are not getting out by next Christmas so deal with it."
The words of Stockdale changed my definition of an optimist. Being an optimist is not about pretending that everything is all right, in times of misery. Being an optimist is to accept the truth and positively think about what to do about you situation. If a man wants to lose weight, he must take the necessary steps like exercising, eating healthy food etc. And all the while as he does this labour he must think positively that his effort would pay of. That is being an optimist.
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