WINTER SOLSTICE 2020: What color do you feel like?
Blue - no, that's a joke (because it's cold here during that time).
Yellow - would be more appropriate a color. I am looking forward to the longer days ahead, full of yellow sunshine, warming the mountain air. I have generally been an optimist throughout my life.
It has been really hard in 2020 to stay positive with COVID-19 holding us captive most of the year. The idea of 2021 being around the corner and longer days ahead gives me such hope. Yellow is also the color of the infamous "Smiley Face" emoji. I am hopeful that we will have a vaccine that works, that we have the pandemic on the run, and the economy recovers over time. I hear Louis Armstrong singing, "What a Wonderful World", in the background as I type.
I teach a program titled, "Finding Joy in Today's World". Here are some of my points from that course that relate to this blog:
I. Develop the explanatory style of an optimist
A. Each of us has an inner voice that only we can hear. It tells us how to interpret events. B. Those of us who end up with an Optimistic explanatory Style have an inner self that affirms our ability and predicts good fortune. C. If we are burdened with a Pessimistic Explanatory Style, we have an inner voice that criticizes our performance and warns of trouble to come. Both voices tend to be right. Why? D. We are literally what we believe we are! If we think we are weak or strong, smart or dumb, slow or fast- we are right!
II. Use positive reappraisal
A. When adversity hits, our innate response is to focus simply on the dangers, difficulties, and downside.
B. Nothing wrong with that per se. We use it to develop contingency plans or make safer decisions. The question is how long we should let that continue.
C. Now this reframing doesn’t come naturally. It requires a conscious effort- plus being open to the idea that there are different perspectives.
D. Eyeing adversity from a positive angle opens up our field of view. We start looking at the situation with a broader and longer-term perspective. This reframing counters our tendency to overestimate problems and our ability to handle them successfully. It helps us regain emotional balance and see new possibilities we haven’t considered before.
I have friends that feel that they are being more "realistic" than my Pollyanna view of the world. Here is a quote from David Landes from Harvard:
"In this world, the Optimists have it, not because they are always right but because they are positive. Even when they are wrong, they are positive, and that is the way of achievement, correction, improvement, and success. Educates, Eyes- Open Optimism pays: pessimism can only offer the empty consolation of being right."
So, since we are shooting for the stars - "Here is to a brighter 2021 for everyone, filled with love, success, and joy!"
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