Thursday, December 31, 2009

Optimism - Word Thursday


My father used to say, "If you can keep your head while all others around you are losing theirs you clearly don't understand the situation." He was the optimist? He used to optimistically get us into situations that triggered Mom's we-are-not-going-to-make-it gene. Us kids, caught in the back seat as the car ran dangerously close to out of gas miles from civilization, or trailing behind in a force march out of our favorite fishing hole with the temperatures soaring to above 100, or in our bedrooms listening to fights over money were just literally along for the ride.

I have learned to whistle in the dark but firmly believe the light at the end of the tunnel has a good chance of being a freight train. I keep waiting for my ship to come in while debating to swim out after it. But in my heart of hearts I am afraid of sharks. And I have read about the Lusitania and the Titanic.

Optimism comes from the Latin word optimus, meaning "best," which describes how an optimistic person is always looking for the best in any situation and expecting good things to happen. Optimism is the tendency to believe, expect or hope that things will turn out well. Even if something bad happens, like the loss of a job, an optimist sees the silver lining.

I can be very optimistic from time to time. And I believe in the power of positive thinking though I know that did not work for the builders and passengers of the Titanic. I always hope on New Year's eve that the year ahead will be better than the last. But since Christmas Eve 2001 it has been one long struggle after another to avoid that train in the tunnel. I have fought to get the doctors to believe something was seriously wrong, I fought for worker's compensation and then Social Security Disability, and bankruptcy so I could keep my home and not the debts incurred while not working - just living from day to day. Then the contractor from hell. I am frankly rather tired of fighting.

But I read my yearly horoscope this morning to try and find some reason to believe the dot on the horizon might be my ship coming in and not a swarm of locus. My trials over the last eight years seem to all be about the now non-planet of Pluto.


Gemini is one of the few Sun signs that doesn't have an animal symbol, but this may be the year that all of that changes. In the past few years, with Pluto opposing your sign, you've been a little like a monkey, swinging from branch to branch trying desperately to keep one step ahead of the predators and keep yourself fed. With Pluto now moved on into Capricorn, a lot of the major partnership issues you've faced will be lightening up. You'll still retain the swing, but this year you're going to feel a lot more like a hummingbird: still mobile, still getting things done, but in a much more elegant manner. 

Your renowned intellect has been strained the last couple of years, as it's been forced to find solutions to the many issues you've been dealt. In 2010, you'll finally be gaining some traction on your biggest challenges, and solutions will flow to you with ease. 

And my career and financial path seems to be upward mobile for the first half of the year. So dare I hope as I wave goodbye to 2009 that 2010 will be a better year? Or is that being overly optimistic? Foolhardy even?

Where do you fall on this time-space continuum?

4 comments:

Bekkieann said...

I consider myself an optimist but also a pragmatist and a realist. It's unrealistic to think the new year won't hold its own set of challenges, just like every year before. But I believe in my own ability to solve problems and continue moving forward and progressing toward my goals - even setting new goals. I think optimism is believing you will come out okay in the end after doing your best.

And I think all your fighting and hard work, Jacqui, will pay off for you this year.

Cindy Harris said...

Law of Attraction states that if you believe it will be bad, then it will be. If you believe you deserve something good and see the good in things then you will see good things.

So, if you don't want something that is bad, negative, etc., don't think about those things. Toss all negativity out the window and think good things.

You can also make a vision board. Put what you want to achieve, have, etc. on the board. Want more income...write down how much you want to make for the month, quarter, year, etc. and put it on your board. Want to drive a fancy car, find a photo of the car/vehicle you want and put a picture of it on your board. Want a new home, find a picture of the one you want and put it on your board. Want to open your own art gallery, put that on your board. After your board is made, you can add to it or take things away from it. Just keep the board where you can see it every day and often.

Jack Canfield took a $1 bill and added 6 zero's beside the one and taped it to his ceiling so he could see it every morning when he woke up and every night when he went to bed. It was his goal to make a million dollars in one year with his book Chicken Soup for the Soul. He made $92,000. Not bad for the way he used the Law of Attraction.

Am sending good vibes your way to help keep you in a positive frame of mind throughout 2010!

JBinford-Bell said...

Odd you should mention it, Cyn. I have a "vision board" or, as I called it at the time, a wheel of fortune hung on the wall on the stairs. I used to give it a spin every time I passed it. Rather like a Buddhist prayer spool. The studio, which I have since realized, was one of the prominent collages on that.

Perhaps it is time to update it with another layer of photographs of my WOW list.

I have been a believer in positive thinking and the dynamics of attraction. But I sometimes wonder just how long the cats in the Skinner box experiments were sure they would not get shocked in the next box before they just stopped moving and sat there shivering. Unable to think positively there was a way out.

Ien in the Kootenays said...

Pluto may not be a planet anymore, it still seems to be functioning as an astrological force.
But there is so much more to a horoscope than a Sun Sign. If you have any important factors in early degrees of a cardinal sign this will not be an easy year.
Saturn is always somewhere, but then so is Jupiter. I am all in favor of positive attracting, but the best things in my life have happened in spite of me planning something entirely different.