How do you see yourself? Are you an optimist or Pessimist? What makes one an optimist?
If you see the distant stars through your window, though there are heaps of garbage nearby,
If you see the rose, but not the thorn surrounding the rose,
If you see the doughnut, but not the hole,
If you see the light, where there is none,
If you see the light at the far end of the tunnel , but not the darkness surrounding you
You are an optimist.

Who is an optimist?

An optimist is the one, who keeps alive the flickering flame of Hope, though fierce winds of despair, hopelessness  try to blow away the lamp of hope in your hand. Optimist is well aware of the fact, the moment, he removes his protective hands kept around his flame of hope, the fierce gales of despair and hopelessness will put it off.

For an optimist hope is the breath that makes him move. Hope to achieve success. Hope to reach the cherished goals .  Hope to dispel the sinister despair and hopelessness.
It’s obvious, an optimist’s effective weapon in the arsenal of his heart is Hope. Fuel makes the machine run. Hope makes the man move ahead.

Hope and Greed 

Beware, there is a difference between, hope and greed. It’s essential to know the subtle difference between Hope and greed. The basis for your aspirations is Hope. Hope always takes your potentialities in to consideration and it makes you think logically. Whereas greed is avarice, an overwhelming desire to grab things, though there is no eligibility.

Optimists evaluate themselves

An optimist’s hope is quite logical. Before hoping for anything, he/ she do a lot of self analysis. They check their Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. Simply put, they subject themselves to SWOT analysis.
Limitations of Optimism
Having the trait of optimism will not assure always success. It assures you how to cope up with the pressures of failures and disappointment during the course of one’s journey towards success.
For example, in case of a failure, we see people lose their confidence and quit. In case of a person who is optimistic will not be cowed down by failures. Optimists turn the stones hurled against them in to Milestones.

Rising from the ashes

This phrase originating from the story of the mythical bird Phoenix, which after the completion of it’s life cycle of 100 years, burns itself in its nest and gets reduced to ashes. And from these very ashes, a new and young Phoenix emerges out.
This phrase is often used in literature as a metaphor, if any person after a disastrous end reemerges afresh. This is what  people with optimistic attitude do. They will nether be deterred nor scared to face the reversals. Their spirits will not be dampened by setbacks.

Super achievers, who refuse to quit.

Those  luminaries, who are adorning the pages of history did not get there because of instant success. They too had their share of failures. But,  due to their inherent quality of optimism, they made a place of their own in the pages of History.
It’s not out of context to recall the famous saying of Swami Vivekananda at this juncture. The gist of Swamij’s saying is,

World history is nothing but the history of a few people with self confidence.

Let me illustrate with some inspiring stories of such great souls, who are not only the epitome of self confidence. they are the shining examples of ‘Optimism.’

Kapil’s commitment

Kapil Dev, the ace cricketer, during his school days  had a chance to play cricket in East Africa..During that time, he wore somebody’s sweater as he was not having his own sweater. Seeing Kapil in  that sweater, Eknath Solkar said, “It’s the sweater worn by those cricketers who represent India.. Startled Kapil took off the sweater, but that sweater started haunting him. He started seeing  himself in the sweater. As the time went on , Kapil’s desire to represent India  grew stronger and stronger until it became a reality. That’s perseverance . That’s commitment and that is Grit.

From Penniless to ‘Pots of gold.’

J.K Rowling, the creator of Harry Potter series was refused by the publishers repeatedly in her early days of struggle. Then , a divorcee, desperately trying to bring up her child with modest income remained undaunted. But never gave up her writing. As the failures increased, her grit became stronger and stronger.
And today, you know J.K Rowling has become the second name of Success.

Handicap did not Dampen their spirits.

Pratish Dutta, who was awarded the coveted Jagadishchandra memorial gold medal from the president of India, for his extraordinary academic achievements, was a blind man. But that did not dampen the spirit of Pratish. Sympathetic parents extended all the help needed by Pratish.

When Beethoven was presenting one of his famous symphonies to the elite, a deafening standing ovation greeted him at the end of the session. It was only after knowing from his assistant, that the audience is appreciating his musical mettle, Beethoven could experience the happiness.

For the teachers of Thomas Alva Edison, he was no more than a stupid . He was considered as ‘non- productive. But through his invention, electric bulb, he has carved  a niche of his own in the pages of history. The greatest thing about Edison was that despite repeated failures, he did not let the grip on nthe situation. When he achieved success finally after 1000 attempts. Edison described it as ‘Thousand steps to achieve success.’

Satish Gujral was a born deaf and dumb. He taught painting himself and his paintings were seen by the Nobel laureate Octavio Paz. The Nobel laureate could see the spark in the heart of Satish. He made arrangements for Satish’s visit to Mexico.
Though, he could not understand what the people spoke, Satish grasped all the nuances just by his keen observation. Then he travelled to different countries like America, France and United Kingdom and earned international acclaim for his creative works in painting and sculpting.
Satish was the younger brother of Inder Kumar Gujral, former Prime minister of India.

Ever learners.

Among many other qualities of an optimist, ‘Willingness to learn’ forever is another one that makes them stand above the heads and shoulders of others.
Pablo Casals, the world famous Cellist never leaves a day without practicing. Once he was asked, why he wants to practice religiously, though he achieved fame and name in immense quantities. The Cellist replied, “I Practice with a hope that I can do better than yesterday.”

Dwaram Venkataswamy Naidu, is another prodigy, who entertained the audience in the United Nations Assembly, with his mellifluous Violin notes was practicing the rudiments of Carnatic music until his death.

As dutiful as Sun

Optimists will never shy away from their responsibilities assigned to them. And they never think that they had done a favour to the humanity. By regularly rising to give the light to dispel the darkness, the Sun never thought that he is doing a favour to the world.
Great souls are keen in discharging their duties without fail come what may.

The Tree as the Role Model

A tree shefsd its leaves once in every year . But, the tree comes up with a new crop of leaves, without lamenting over the lost leaves.
Akin to this, an optimist, never broods over the innumerable losses that occur during his life’s journey. He goes on looking for the new opportunities and new avenues, hitherto unexplored and creates a new world of his own .

Those 2 days, an optimist never bothers about.

Yesterday and tomorrow are the two days that an optimist never thinks of. Present is the only time for him to carve realities out of his constructive dreams. Optimists firmly believe that, there is no bigger present than the ‘PRESENT.’  And establishing a firm control over the present is the only and best way of realizing one’s dreams.

The Value of ‘Now’.

Kabir, the great visionary of India says in his literary marvel, “Kabir Doha”

“Kaal Karey So Aaj
Aaj kare so ab”

means a job that’s scheduled for tomorrow, should be done today. The job scheduled to be done today, should be done ‘Now.’
That’s the way to get a grip over your limited time. That’s the way to extract more time from your limited time.
It goes without saying how Optimists utilize the time to gain proficiency in the fields, close to their hearts. They say, all limitations can be erased if one has control over the ‘Time’.

It is obvious, Optimism is the trait one must have, because, from this very trait all other virtues necessary to embellish one’s own lives will crop up.
An Optimist is one who has the key to open the doors that lead to immense opportunities.

What’s holding you? Dispel all the negative thoughts and invite positivity in to your life now.

Image : Author's creation.