Fill
Your New Year With Optimism
Seven
Strategies to Attain Optimism—Part 2
Our general outlook plays a large role in the manner in
which we step into each moment of every day, either leaning toward pessimism or
optimism. Various factors influence our leaning, over which many we can have
control.
In my last post, we looked at the first three of the Seven Strategies to Attain Optimism: 1-
Let go of the past. 2- Avoid getting hung up on a negative thing or situation.
3- Remember that, for everyone, life has ups and downs.
Today we’ll consider the next two:
“Sticks and stones may break my bones
but words can never harm me.” ─NOT SO!
Have you ever been hurt by words? I
certainly have.
A psychotherapist may tell us we have
control over our feelings and reactions to words spoken to us. There is some
truth there, but tell that to the person who has just heard their spouse say,
“I don’t love you anymore. I want a divorce.”
Words can uplift or drag down. They can
shed light or confuse; bring stability or knock you on your face; fill you with
joy or punch you in the gut.
An article in PsychologyToday.com,
titled, “The Most Dangerous Word in the World,” says there’s a word that can
literally do damage in a person’s brain. During a brain scan doctors can detect
stress-producing hormones and neurotransmitters when a certain word is flashed
for less than one second. “These chemicals immediately interrupt the normal
functioning of your brain, impairing logic, reason, language processing, and
communication.” *
What is that word? It’s “no.”
The article further says that negative
words can make an anxious or depressed person feel worse and can affect sleep,
appetite and one’s “ability to experience long-term happiness and
satisfaction.” *
But we don’t need phycology
professionals to enlighten us in this area. God’s Word teaches us much the same
thing.
“A wholesome tongue is a tree of life,
but perverseness in it breaks the spirit” (Proverbs
15:4 NKJV).
“Pleasant words are a honeycomb,
sweetness to the soul and health to the bones”
(Proverbs 16:24).
We must continuously be mindful of our
words, whether it be self-talk or directed to others. So much has been taught
and written on this subject, we have to wonder why the tongue is still so hard
to tame.
James, the brother of Jesus, gives
powerful guidance, stating “no man can tame the tongue” and it is “full of
deadly poison.” (James 3:1, 12)
We need to ask and rely on the Holy
Spirit to help us maintain control over our words on a minute by minute basis. Let’s
pray with the psalmist: “Set a guard, O Lord, over my mouth; keep
watch over the door of my lips” (Psalm 141:3).
“I will bless the LORD at all times; his
praise will be in my mouth continuously” (Psalm 34:1 NSV).
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| Pinterest Photo |
Mindfulness in our speech can help attain
optimism in ourselves and those with whom we come in contact. When we do so, we
honor God and build up ourselves and others.
5- Practice Gratitude
“The
struggle ends when gratitude begins.” –Neale Douglas Walsh
Let’s chew on that quote for a couple
minutes.
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| photo by Connie Wohlford |
Gratitude
will cause optimism to rise up in the spirit of a person. Right now, stop and
think of five things for which you’re thankful. Did you know that as you
meditate on these things, the production of dopamine and serotonin increases
and has a positive effect on your brain?
Scientific studies show that we
literally receive a boost in feelings of well-being as a result of gratitude. Many
studies have been performed and articles written about this phenomenon.
There’s no lack of things to be thankful
for as followers of Christ and the Bible is full of passages reflecting this
truth. If you have much experience in Bible reading and church attendance you
can probably bring several to mind without much effort.
The psalms especially extol the glories
of the Lord and reasons to be thankful to Him. Thankfulness is an important
aspect of worship. As we read through Psalms, we see that praise, worship, and
thanksgiving are three pillars in acknowledging God and relating to Him.
Psalm 100 is one of my favorites,
especially verses 4 and 5: “Enter into His gates with thanksgiving and
into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name. For the
Lord is good; His mercy is everlasting, and His truth endures forever to all
generations” (NKJV).
In addition to being grateful to God, we
need to express gratitude to other people. Any expression of thanks is welcomed
by most people. Knowing how we feel when someone expresses gratitude to us, we
should liberally convey thanks to others whenever possible. This is one way we
can encourage optimism in others while receiving benefits ourselves.
Thanksgiving leads to contentment even
when circumstances of life are less than desirable. “Rejoice always, pray without
ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus
for you” (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 NKJV).
A contented person is a grateful person and a grateful person is a
contented person.
So,
let’s take heart as we meditate on the above Scripture Passages and these forth
and fifth of the Seven Strategies to Attain Optimism. Be assured that God wants
us to live joy-filled lives, unhindered by pessimistic thoughts and anxieties.
Please
check back in a few days to learn more of the strategies. May God richly bless
you in your own pathway to attaining Christ-ordained optimism.
Your
comments are welcome.
©Copyright
2018 Connie Wohlford
