Optimism Is A Muscle

I think I told you that my children gave me a one-year membership to MasterClass for my birthday and I have really been enjoying it.

For those that don’t know, MasterClass offers online courses that cover a wide range of topics. You pick a class and then watch several videos. You can watch as many as you want at a time and the range of courses is pretty impressive. 

So far I have taken a few classes on writing. One by David Baldacci, another by James Patterson and one on comedy writing led by Steve Martin. 

I took a course given by George Stephanopoulos of ABC to try to improve my interview skills and I just finished one given by Robin Roberts of “Good Morning America.”

Robin talked about journalism but she also spent a lot of time on motivation and focused on the health obstacles she has faced and how to rise above the challenges.

I actually watched the final few videos while I was flying back from Texas recently and she had one comment that made me stop and write it down. I had a chance to reflect on it this week.

The quote was:

“Optimism is a muscle that gets stronger with use.”

Wow!

“Optimism is a muscle that gets stronger with use.”

Now I know that “optimism” is really a noun that means, “Hopefulness and confidence about the future or the successful outcome of something,” but stay with me here. Isn’t that a great thought?

Optimism is a muscle that gets stronger with use.

When you think of any muscle you have it’s true: they get stronger with use. When you were younger, or maybe you still do it today, when you wanted to get stronger you worked out. Lifting weights or doing pushups and, most likely, you would increase the weights or the repetitions as you got stronger. 

What if we tried that with our optimism?

I wasn’t always the most optimistic guy. In fact, I still have my days. I’m pretty sure I’ve told you how I have lived with my share of negative self-talk for decades. “You’ll never be able to do that! Why even try?” It took me a long time to realize what I was doing to myself and to try and reverse my thinking. My pessimism muscle was pretty strong. 

Maybe it’s time to rearrange my thinking.

I’m reminded of a phrase that my daughter’s pitching coach used. I’ve heard it from many others but I will always remember those Sunday morning pitching lessons when Harry Lowe would talk about “muscle memory.” Train those muscles so that they get used to doing it right. It will become automatic. What if we try that with optimism?

If you always face the day with optimism, eventually you won’t know any other way. Trust me, I know it won’t be easy but I’m going to give it a try. I’m sure my negative voice will have something to say.

“That’s not the way we do things? What is this new way of thinking? Uh-huh! None of that!”

We just have to be ready to say, “Shut up!”

Robin Roberts says, “Challenge yourself. For two days say ‘I’m going to be optimistic.’ Look for the good in people. Say good morning to strangers.” If it works for those two days, try for two more!

Optimism is a muscle and like any other muscle, “Use it or lose it.”

What do you say we give it a try?

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