Talking with a friend recently about future plans, she noted that she's usually too optimistic about everything turning out well. I asked her how often her optimistic outlooks become reality. She replied that they do most of the time.I told her that in contrast, I generally envision the worst possible outcome in most situations and then use that to help plan for how to mitigate all the bad things happening. The interesting part is that I can't really recall one instance where my worst case scenario even remotely happened.
My challenge coming away from the conversation is how I can adopt an outlook closer to hers since there's great opportunity in working toward a positive versus working against a negative. Comes back to trust and faith in God's plan. A familiar theme. One I'll be praying about for help.
Blessings,
Mike
2 comments:
It’s funny, over the past year I’ve struggled with trying to get my aging parents direction set and their lack of momentum in making the changes they really need to. I had been finding myself worrying about the “what ifs”...all of which would be really difficult outcomes for me and my family. At some point, a few months ago, I finally let it go for the very reason you've pointed out. Really, it's so easy to get sucked into the possible negative outcomes, you forget to enjoy the very postive moments we're living.
Thanks for the comment Mitch! That's a great philosophical shift.
It would be great for you to meet my friend who inspired the post and press her to hear more about her outlook. She's pretty incredible!!!
Mike
Post a Comment