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Sunstone
13-07-2003, 08:44 PM
Dear guys,

Sometimes it's always important to recharge your batteries on the IP journey and make sure your attitude is carrying you forward in the right direction.

Are you an optimist?

Cheers,

Sunstone.


http://www.askmen.com/fashion/body_and_mind/22_better_living.html


Optimism Quotes
· "I try to avoid looking forward or backward, and try to keep looking upward."
- Charlotte Bronte
· "Better to light a candle than to curse the darkness."
- Chinese Proverb
· "Never confuse a single defeat with a final defeat."
- F. Scott Fitzgerald
· "How much better a thing it is to be envied than to be pitied."
- Herodotus
· "Keep your face to the sunshine and you cannot see the shadow. It's what sunflowers do."
- Helen Keller
· "The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall."
- Nelson Mandela
· "No one can make you feel inferior without your permission"
- Eleanor Roosevelt
· "It takes but one positive thought when given a chance to survive and thrive to overpower an entire army of negative thoughts."
- Robert Schuller
· "Always look at what you have left. Never look at what you have lost."
- Robert H. Schuller
· "Optimism is the one quality more associated with success and happiness than any other."
- Brian Tracy
· "A pessimist is one who makes difficulties of his opportunities and an optimist is one who makes opportunities of his difficulties."
- Harry Truman
· "Keep away from people who belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great, make you feel that you too can become great."
- Mark Twain
· "A healthy attitude is contagious but don't wait to catch it from others. Be a carrier."
- Unknown
http://sparkpeople.com/start/quotes_optimism.html






'Optimists are more resistant to infectious illness and are better at fending off chronic diseases of middle age'
Optimists are more resistant to infectious illness and are better at fending off chronic diseases of middle age. In one study, we looked at 96 men who had their first heart attack in 1980. Within eight years, 15 of the 16 most pessimistic men died of a second heart attack, but only five of the 16 most optimistic men died.
Good therapy for depression may entail bolstering a set of benign illusions. Depressed people may need to adopt the same self-serving illusions that most normal people hold. We can choose how we think. Styles of thinking can become habits. We can control our thoughts as we can our muscles.
'My goal would be to get that person to speak to him- or herself more kindly, the way a loving friend might'
Specifically, if something goes wrong, pessimists tend to have hopeless thoughts. They tell themselves, 'I'll never get it right,' or 'I always screw up,' or worse, they stamp themselves with a negative label - 'I'm a jerk.' My goal would be to get that person to speak to him- or herself more kindly, the way a loving friend might. The person might learn to say, 'Things didn't go well today, but I learned a lot from the experience, and I'll do better tomorrow.' Instead of negative labels like 'jerk', the pessimist would learn to say, 'Sometimes I'm not as considerate as I'd like to be, but overall, I'm a kind person.'
'My recommendation is to do something pleasurable that will distract you from your troubles'
My other advice for overcoming pessimism is not to ruminate about bad events that happen to you, at least not immediately afterwards. If your boss fires you or you fail an important exam, my recommendation is to do something pleasurable that will distract you from your troubles. I recommend fun distractions because studies show, if you think about problems in a negative frame of mind, you come up with fewer solutions. And you're likely to spiral into deeper depression. By boosting mood and self-esteem, people with pessimistic tendencies can break that cycle and free themselves to think more creatively.It takes most people a few weeks to get the knack, but once the technique is learned, the less likely they are to relapse. That's well documented.
A 'pathologically optimistic' genius
'Mozart was almost pathologically optimistic'
A psychological analysis of Mozart's correspondence shows that he was almost pathologically optimistic, with an exuberant self-confidence. Optimistic people who suffer setbacks tend to attribute them to external causes that are temporary and can be changed. Writing in The Psychologist, Professor Andrew Steptoe of St George's Hospital Medical School says that towards the end of Mozart's short life, when he suffered the deaths of four children, serious illnesses and repeated professional and financial disasters, his optimism actually rose.
http://www.globalideasbank.org/1993/1993-38.HTML



"The optimist sees the doughnut, the pessimist sees the hole."
Anonymous

Sunstone
02-03-2004, 10:53 PM
Dear guys,

Is the cup half full or is the cup half empty?

Cheers,

Sunstone.

Lissy
03-03-2004, 12:30 PM
Depends on what the cup was being used for just prior to asking the question, Sunstone....

JumJones
03-03-2004, 02:23 PM
Hey .. who drank half my cup ?????

Sunstone
03-03-2004, 09:54 PM
Recharge.

Cup always half full.

Cheers,

Sunstone.

Jacque
11-03-2004, 10:11 AM
Tried to do that test, Sunstone, but you have to register and pay. So, I didn't :)
Anyway, I consider myself an optimist (don't most of us?!) as I'm rarely sick, I smile a lot and try to always see the positive side. Some days I'm down (again, I think this applies to most people) but most of the time I have a positive attitude towards life.
The grumpiest people are those with frown wrinkles and downturned mouth lines later on in life. They look as though smiling is a chore for them, and has been all their lives!

Not only is the cup half full, but it's a beautiful crystal Kosta Boda tumbler as well.
Have a great day everyone :cool:

PT_Bear
11-03-2004, 10:36 AM
During school I worked in a hardware retail outlet on weekends. There were occasionally difficult and demanding customers. To deal with them I simply had to think:

"It doesn't matter how much of an a***hole you are, in ten minutes you'll be gone from my life, and I'll still be getting paid".

From this I've developed the attitude that it doesn't matter how bad it gets, or how broke you are, so long as you're still breathing you've got the oppertunity to get through it.

As a result, nothing ever really seems to be that bad.

Aceyducey
11-03-2004, 10:46 AM
The grumpiest people are those with frown wrinkles and downturned mouth lines later on in life. They look as though smiling is a chore for them, and has been all their lives!
Remember the old adage, it only takes 12 muscles to smile but over 50 to frown :)

There's been a physiological link proven between smiling & feeling good too. When you smile it triggers chemicals throughout your body making you feel happier.

So force those smiles out!

Cheers,

Aceyducey

Sunstone
11-03-2004, 11:18 PM
Dear guys,

Some nice comments. :)

Here's a couple you might enjoy.

Cheers,

Sunstone.


http://www.coastline-re.com/re01.htm
http://www.coastline-re.com/re02.htm
http://www.coastline-re.com/re04.htm
http://www.coastline-re.com/re05.htm
http://www.coastline-re.com/re06.htm (My favourite.)
http://www.coastline-re.com/re07.htm
http://www.coastline-re.com/re08.htm

http://poconorealestate.com/humor.htm


WHEN we put our house up for sale, I stressed emphatically that my sons make their beds each morning. I left for work before they left for school, and I wanted to be sure that the house looked presentable when the agent showed it to prospective buyers. I was surprised and impressed that my 15-year-old son's bed was made perfectly each day. One night when I went into his room, I discovered his secret he was fast asleep on the floor in his sleeping bag.

***************************
OWNER to a house hunter: "Yes, the kitchen is a bit small, but with a mortgage like this you won't do much cooking anyway."

***************************


WHEN A real-estate agency hadn't sold our house, we decided to do it ourselves. I placed ads in the local papers, spray painted a "For Sale" message on a sign board and posted it outside.

When my husband came home that evening, he told me, laughing, that my sign was the most truthful one he had ever seen. Confused, I rushed outside to take a look. In my haste I had printed - "For Sale by Ower."

http://www.becquet.com/laughter/54.htm

Kristine..
12-03-2004, 12:44 AM
Optimism Quotes
The person might learn to say, 'Things didn't go well today, but I learned a lot from the experience, and I'll do better tomorrow.' ... if you think about problems in a negative frame of mind, you come up with fewer solutions.

'Mozart was almost pathologically optimistic'
towards the end of Mozart's short life ... his optimism actually rose.



Hi Sunstone

There is a difference between acknowledging reality, and avoiding reality either with pessimism or optimism.

Both extreme reactions are a form of denial.

The mature, responsible individual will see where they have made a mistake and accept responsibility for it and face the consequences. However, it is not usually socially acceptable to accept credit for our successes.

So the pessimist may actually see themselves as acting responsibly. They may consider that by acting cautiously, by not venturing outside their boundaries and seeking to dissuade others from risk-taking actions, that they are acting in a way which will ultimately earn them approval.

Even when their actions are successful, they will put that down to luck or chance, not their own skill.

Different cultures produce more or fewer pessimists. A strong and strict upbringing can create anxiety in an individual which they may never shake off. When an individual is punished more than rewarded they can spend the rest of their life avoiding punishment but are not practiced in seeking reward.

The sky will always fall but the grass may never grow.

An individual from a less severe background or culture will not always be looking for the punishment and is therefore more capable of accepting success and reward.

Whether we consider ourselves one or the other may in itself be limiting. We can be a failure no matter our worldly success, or a success no matter our worldly failures.

To behave as Mozzart purportedly did is denial. This 'optimism' achieves nothing and is similar to the cat purring whilst at the vets. Pretending that all is well does not make it so.

Many things contribute toward success. Optomism may be helpful, but it is not the be all and end all.

My money would be on determination and perseverance, then no matter the frame of mind, circumstances, obstacles or even successes, the action will be carried through to conclusion. Only completion bring success.

For the investor, there is no substitute for getting your name on the dotted line. Whether you smile or whether you frown when you are signing your name will have minimal impact on the end result, just so long as you sign.

For the record: I find ways of doing things. There is always a way. Like Edison, when something doesn't work, I cross it off my list and try another way. However, as that attempt may be relevant in another time and place, that experience is not discarded but remembered for another time.

Glass have full? That means I've only just got home. Half empty? Well, just a splash more, there's time before dinner. Aaah, that's better. Gee, I've had a great day, got nearly four litres of paint on the fence, bit stiff around the shoulders from lying on the concrete painting under the bottom rail, but gosh! that fence sure looks good!

Bottoms up!

Kristine