Characteristics of Genius – Optimism

The O in PROTAG is for Optimistic.  Being optimistic is

Meriam Webster- an inclination to put the most favorable construction upon actions and events or to anticipate the best possible outcome

When you think of optimism, what do you think of?  A person with their head in the clouds or “Pollyanna-ish”?  It is a particular perspective of the world and plays a big part in a person’s paradigm. 

Two books that have taught me about optimism are Viktor Frankl’s “Man’s Search for Meaning” and Corrie Ten Boom’s “The Hiding Place.” Both of these books are autobiographies of the authors’ time during World War II.  Frankl was Jewish and spent time as a prisoner in Auschwitz while Ten Boom helped Jews and was sentenced to a work camp.  Both suffered horrific things but were able to find something to hold onto to get them through the experience.

Viktor Frankl was only 24 when he went to a concentration camp.  He was newly married and had a book he was working on and wanted to get published.  He seemed to have his entire life ahead of him, and then everything changed.  As a psychologist, he took a little different look at what was going on in the camps.  He noticed things that others didn’t.  And it is what kept him alive.

He was behind an electrified fence and was being treated horrifically and had no control of his life, but he found that the Nazi’s couldn’t control how he thought.  He was the only one that had that control, and he worked hard to keep it.  He noticed that when confronted with something, even something he had no control over, he did have control over how he responded. 

Corrie Ten Boom writes in her book about how her sister responded to things.  When they were put into a building that was infested with fleas, she chose to respond with gratitude.  The guards didn’t like to go into their building because of the insects, so they were able to read their smuggled Bible to the other women and help give them hope.  Corrie and her sister also could see a brighter future ahead of them.  They even planned a way to help those that were mistreating them.

Frankl, upon release, learned that his wife and other family members had been murdered, and Corrie also had family members that died in the camps, but both of them continued to find optimism to help them share their genius. 

Can you imagine being grateful for fleas?  It was what enabled Corrie Ten Boom to survive the experience she went through, but it has also had beneficial effects on her state of mind.

Brene Brown shared in one of her TED talks how gratitude helps her when her thoughts turn to pessimism.  She shared how she imagined horrible things happening like people attacking her and her husband while they were on a date night and how their babysitter would have to deal with it with their kids.  It was the worst-case scenario running rampant in her thoughts.  What helped her get through times like this, was listing things she was grateful for, even the most mundane things, so that she could get past her pessimism and get back to the optimistic mindset.

Helping your child be optimistic means you need to be optimistic.  You need to work at how you respond to the circumstances you are put in and be grateful for whatever you can… even if it is for fleas.  Model it and then bring you child into it.  Write in gratitude journals together.  When challenges come up decide together how to deal with them in a positive way.  One family I know does this.  When the father was diagnosed with cancer they went out to celebrate.  They chose how they were going to meet the challenge and showed their kids.  This same man when to his cancer treatments wearing a top hat filled with little stuffed animals to share with the children.  He chose to take the opportunity to spread love and joy.

If you would like to learn more about different characteristics to develop that will help you realize your genius and develop a genius paradigm check out these articles:

Characteristics of a Genius – Perspicacity
Characteristics of a Genius – Resolute
Characteristics of a Genius – Talent
Characteristics of a genius – Action-Oriented
Characteristics of a Genius – Generosity