New Year, New Optimism

The 2012 New Year has already provided enough roadblocks for Jacie and Dr. Russ that they had to get out thier heavy duty optimism stamina gear in order to stay in the 90% optimism zone.  In their first podcast of 2012, they discuss the bumpy start to 2012 as well as some optimistic happenings around the globe and thier own goals for the new Year.

Click here to listen to our first Podcast of Optimism of the New Year.

White Nile Optimism Stamina for Everyday Setbacks of Life: Minor to Major

Recall that White Nile Optimism is spiritually derived and necessary to achieve and stay in the 90%-plus optimism zone, continuously.   Blue Nile Optimism is based on psychological theory and research.  As we have stated in previous posts, the Blue Nile Optimism drawn from psychology only gets one to a maximum ability of viewing 84% of the moments of life from an optimistic perspective.  Psychology is not enough.  White Nile Optimism must be part of the key strategies for becoming and remaining optimistic.  Today we discuss the White Nile Optimism for the three strategies that make up the category of “Stamina for Everyday Setbacks.”

Stamina 1: Make Setbacks Momentary

The skill of putting a setback or failure behind us is often difficult even for the most skilled optimist.  While telling his audience to forget what is behind and to strain toward what is ahead, Paul admits to his own difficulty adhering to this adage. Despite the struggle to eliminate “looking back” from one’s life, Paul clearly advises that we should keep up the press until we get better and better at letting go of the past. 

Paul himself had major life sins to get past.  He had been an enemy of Christianity, imprison-er and slayer of Christians until he gave his life over to Christ.  Paul then became a disciple and had a new life going forward because he knew the moment he chose to accept Christ into his heart, believed in the truth and trusted in the word of God thru Jesus, he had a new meaning and lease on life that gave him the ability to put setbacks no matter how minor or major behind him.  (See Philippians 12-14).

The whole point of Jesus's death and resurrection was to show in the most dramatic way how important it is to the human psyche, health and happiness to be able to put the past in the past.  This strategy of White Nile Optimism is sustained by the core tenant of Christianity: that Jesus died on the cross to forgive all sins, shortcomings, setbacks and failures past, present and future no matter how big or small.

We, like Paul, know that when you trust in this truth of White Nile Optimism, you will find yourself free to choose to look forward, instead of backward in any given moment of life.

Stamina 2: Adapt to Roadblocks Without Hesitation

Joshua had led the Israelites into the Promised Land and conquered all the lands that God had promised.  He was near the end of his long life and service to the Lord when he addressed the future leaders with the following words: 

• You know with all your heart and soul that not one of the good promises the Lord God has given you has failed.  Every promise has been fulfilled; not one has failed. (Joshua: 14-15).

This message assures us that when we are carrying out God’s mission and purpose on earth, God will be with us and failure is not possible.  However, it is necessary to remember that God’s second promise of optimism is that success can be attained only with hard work.

It took Joshua seven years to conquer all of Israel, one roadblock at a time, battle by battle, city by city, from the Negev in the south to Hazor in the north.

After Joshua had overcome all these roadblocks to occupying the Promised Land, he dismissed the army and turned the land, the earthly promise of God, over to the people.  At the same time, he warned the people of Israel to also hold on to the spiritual promise that God had given them: that if they chose to maintain their faith in God and pursue moment to moment, daily, and lifetime missions for his glory, God would always be with them to overcome any roadblock. 

The Book of Joshua has story after story that illustrates this White Nile Strategy of Optimism: believe in Him, and you will not be forsaken, no matter what the obstacle or roadblock.

Stamina 3: Never Fear a Difference of Opinion

Our view of optimism states that we should be seeking and embracing differences of opinion, everyday, in order to obtain better solutions to problems.  Was it a coincidence that Jesus selected for his disciples ordinary men from different backgrounds?  We think not.  He knew that by selecting men of such varying backgrounds, he would get better advice, have better discussions, have a group of followers who could go forth and teach His word to people from all walks of life.  (See Luke 6:13-16).

It is interesting to note that it was 1,972 years after the birth of Jesus when psychology finally began exploring this Jesus-ordained, White Nile Optimism strategy calling the phenomenon “Groupthink.”  In psychology, Groupthink occurs when a group gathers together under a leader and comes to a decision based on wanting to please the leader and each other.  Hence people are less likely to disagree for fear of displeasing the leader and each other, and the decisions are guaranteed to be flawed, often mortally.

Jesus knew that by getting a group of disparate followers together and giving them free reign to disagree while teaching them his profound wisdom, he would get a group of apostles so committed to his Word they would be willing to risk their lives for it and for teaching it to others.

So, the next time someone disagrees with you, instead of taking the disagreement personally and pessimistically, as in “That person just doesn’t like me or that person is putting up an unnecessary roadblock to the progress of the group discussion,” look optimistically at the event as an opportunity to either improve the quality of the group decision by giving her opinion merit or as an opportunity to educate and convert that person to a new point of view.

Can an Optimist Move a Mountain?

By Russ,

See if you can find at least one answer to the question – Can an optimist move a mountain? – from among the ten answers below that gives you the inspiration and motivation to move the mountains in your life.

1. Yes - When she realizes it is a mental mountain and transforms the problem into a molehill.
2. Yes - When he has the governmental, administrative and engineering resources of the Egyptian pharaohs who built the Pyramids.
3. Yes – When he realizes it cannot be moved, and changes his goal to drilling a tunnel through it.
4. Yes - Only after she climbs to the top and sees the opportunities on the other side does she find the motivation to make the move.
5. No – But only after she decides that life is better than she thought at the base of the mountain.
6. Yes – But not by himself.  He needs to ask, accept, and receive a lot of help.
7. Yes – But only when she realizes that it is not the mountain that needs moving, but rather the perception that the mountain is a roadblock that needs to be set aside.
8. Yes – But only when he realizes that “moving a mountain” is a metaphor for overcoming the impossible and then goes to his creative zone to fine 10 possible solutions to the problem.
9. Yes – But only when she climbs to the top and realizes that the problem is not the mountain, it’s the lack of self-confidence.
10. Yes - But only if you follow the words of scripture from Matthew 17:20.“You don’t have enough faith,"  Jesus said to them. “I tell you the truth, if you had faith even as small as a mustard seed, you could say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it would move. Nothing is impossible.” (New Living Translation)
    



How Optimism Counters Roadblocks to Fitness and Life Goals

By Dr. Russ

Jackie is training to get into the best physical fitness shape of her life so that she can participate in a unique triathlon in June.   She has been progressing well even ahead of schedule for 8 weeks, and now in week 9 (Episode 9) – she faces the first setback or roadblock of her journey.

This is the first test of her OPTIMISM STAMINA skills.  The Key Optimism Stamina Skill is: Adapt to roadblocks without hesitation.

Jackie’s Roadblock

Jackie “tweaked” a muscle in her back.  It likely didn’t happen during her exercise routine, but when she was putting a bike rack on the roof of her car.  She has stopped working out for a week and still had “point-of-tenderness” pain in a muscle along her mid-right-spine.  She hasn’t been able to bend over or sit back in a chair without pain.

Roadblocks Come from Within

The major roadblocks of life are our own self-doubts, fear and worries; in other words, they come from within.  Jackie’s muscle strain is within her physical body.  But, the real potential roadblock comes from the mental, belief side.  Her recovery and return to active training will depend on her attitude.  Her attitude is composed of:

• Recognizing the problem 
• Redefining and redirecting process goals
• Keep in mind the overall outcome goals
• Creative and adaptive problem solving to get back on road

Application of Above to Jackie’s Setback

• Trainer Jenn’s key advice was: “Don’t push through; listen to what your body is saying (i.e., the pain).”  They consulted the available massage therapist who confirmed a muscle strain in the quadratus lumborum muscle.
• Trainer Jenn and Jackie discussed the goals of training for an event versus overall health, and decided that overall health was most important.  They decided to focus on the process goal of healing.
• The solutions certainly involved rest and avoidance of further injury.  Once that process goal was set, Trainer Jenn had Jackie perform an exercise routine that focused on stretching and building core strength in the abdominal muscles; exercises to activate the abs that stabilize the spine.

Sources of Inspiration for Adaptation to Roadblocks

Spiritual Inspiration: Psalm 46:1:  “God is our refuge and strength always ready to help in times of trouble.  So we will not fear when earthquakes come and the mountains crumble into the sea.”

Dr. Russ Buss Psychological Adaptation perspective: Every roadblock is another opportunity to learn optimism skills of patience, self-reflection, a new sense of self-confidence, and new skills.

What Has Jackie Learned

Hopefully, Jackie has learned that taking a step back is really a step forward because now that she has dealt with one setback she has new wisdom about the process of adaptation that will serve her well in the race.  At sometime during the race there will be a setback, and because of what she has learned about dealing with this setback, she will be better prepared and able to adapt to and do her best in the race given any unexpected and difficult circumstances that arise.

Jackie Monroe shares a personal example of overcoming roadblocks

The Optimism Tip of the Week:

Interested in getting the full scoop on Jackie's training progress? Check out Episode 8 of her web series, "Attitude is Everything!"