September Daily Vibes | Power of Influence Day 8

Law of Attraction Daily Vibe

Your Power of Influence Day 8

The Optimistic Choice
Clear alignment, being optimistic doesn’t mean denying reality.  Or seeing sunshine when its raining. According to the dictionary, the everyday meaning of optimism is “hopefulness and confidence about the future or the success of something.” Optimism is a fundamental attitude.  It’s not an opinion about reality; it’s a starting point for dealing with reality.  At every moment, you decide that you’re in the best situation to handle a given challenge.  Optimism is searching for the yes in every situation and finding it.

Appreciate the Blessing of the Contrast
Every religion and philosophy of life teaches that the meaning of life lies in our response to the happenings of our lives.  We are here with this focus on the physical nitty-gritty, a magnified view of possibilities.  The contrasting diversity gives us the fuel for choices. Appreciating the Blessing of the Contrasting diversity of life for the possibilities it suggests is a continuing spiritual practice.  It is the ABC of a fulfilling, joyful life. Optimism turns out to be the most promising and fulfilling strategy, because the optimist accepts reality and then does something about it.

A striking example of optimism in the face of extremely challenging dehumanizing circumstances is Viktor Frankl’s writings of his experience in a concentration camp in 1945 in his book, Man’s Search for Meaning.   When Frankl was sent to the concentration camp, he decided to put his psychiatric training to the ultimate test:  How does the human mind work in extremely challenging dehumanizing circumstances?  He observed what kept some people going and what pulled the rug out from under others and wrote.  “Everything can be taken from a man but the one thing, the last of the human freedoms:  to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.”

Control Of . . .
The optimist knows he is not in control of all that happens in his life but that he does determine his response to it.  The optimist searches for solutions.  And there is always a solution, or at least the beginning of one.  After actor Michael J. Fox developed Parkinson’s disease, he related in a television interview how he finally came to terms with it:  “The answer had everything to do with perspective.   The only choice not available to me was whether or not I had Parkinson’s.  Everything else was up to me.  I could concentrate on what I’d lost, or I could keep living and discover how the holes would fill themselves back up.”

Optimism and persistence go hand in hand.  You can’t find answers or solutions if you aren’t prepared to keep searching and digging and allowing inspiration.  Remember Einstein’s naps after contemplating a “problem”.  The focus of the optimist is on the potential change.  She embraces “yes”.

Benefits
Optimists are healthier and happier – a result that’s been proven by a myriad of studies.  People with an optimistic attitude toward life get sick less often.  When they are sick, they heal faster.  They feel more connected to their lives, and that makes them happier.  Martin Seligman, the founder of the positive psychology movement, came to the same conclusion in several studies.  Optimists feel they have answers to the circumstances in which they find themselves.  That simple realization strengthens their immune systems.

Vibrationally the person in optimism is in their power and emanates an uplifting frequency.

Process:
For the week, be aware of how you are doing as an optimist using the “Checklist for Intelligent Optimists” from the May/June 2013 Intelligent Optimist Magazine.  You might choose one as a focus for the day.

•    No matter what happens, you’re not a victim.  It’s up to you to determine your responses.
•    Embrace you life’s purpose.  Make your own unique contribution that turns your environment into a better place and fulfills you.
•    Make the reality your reality.
•    Don’t be distracted by the overwhelmingly negative news around you, instead read something up-lifting.
•    Don’t look back too often, keep yourself open to today’s new opportunities.
•    Listen to your friends and loved ones, but don’t become dependent on what others think of you.
•    Be appreciative for everything life has given you and for every step forward you can take.
•    Make sure you laugh often.  Don’t take yourself too seriously.

There is no such thing as bad weather, only inappropriate clothing. ~  Scandinavian Proverb

Banking on Plastic
You may have heard of the great pacific garbage patch, a blob of plastic bits floating in the ocean current – but you probably didn’t think of it as a valuable asset, one that could be mined just like any natural resource.

A lot of plastic washes up on beaches around the world, and a new Vancouver-based startup called, The Plastic Bank, aims to monetize it, offering goods and services in exchange for collected plastic.  It’s a little like can and bottle returns in the U.S., but it’s more cost-effective in nations without infrastructure-based recycling programs, like Peru, where the first collection center is scheduled to open this year in Lima.

They are creating a process of re-purposing centers where the more plastic people collect, the more they can exchange it for advancements in entrepreneurship and education.  The bank is solving two problems, using one to solve the other.  The plan uses plastic as currency.  With an on-site 3D printing facility and an exchange system, collectors can pick up tools and raw materials they can use for other ventures.  ~ Nathan Hurst, Find out more: Plasticbank.org