I don’t know about you but each day I am faced with decisions and opportunities to get my emotions in a river that flows rapidly. Everything can be fine one moment, then someone in my home has a meltdown, a freakout moment or they just flat out get in a grumbling and complaining rut. It’s as if every day we have this waterfall of emotions that are flowing at a great speed. If I’m not careful, I stick my head in the flow of the emotional waterfalls going on around me and I start gasping for air. When I finally catch my breath, relax and take a step back or even step out of the emotional waterfall I can get a better perspective.
We all live in this fast paced world with emotions running high coupled with a heavy dose of fear, worry, dread, and anxiety. Those emotions seem to be the default emotions we go to in times of stress. However, I read somewhere the quote, “Optimism is a courageous choice you make every day.” I don’t know about you, but I want to live a courageous life and if I’m going to do that then I’m going to have to make courageous choices and those start with being optimistic.
By definition, the word Optimism means…
“A disposition or tendency to look on the more favorable side of events or conditions and to expect the most favorable outcome.”
It takes a lot of courage to take on the disposition of optimism. To expect the most favorable outcome when the circumstances seem to not be in your favor. I can’t speak for you, but I find it super easy to default to fear and worry but I want my default to be courage, to be optimism, to have faith to believe God sees my needs, hears my prayers and has an answer in the heavens He is just waiting to give to me.
In Psalm 31:24 NIV, it says…
“Be strong and take heart, all you who hope in the LORD.”
I want to be strong, take heart and hope in the Lord, but that is going to take optimism. It’s going to take courage to tell my fears and worries they need to hush. I know that worry is a good friend to many, but this week I say we break up with worry and make the courageous choice to pair up with optimism.I’m not saying that it will be easy, but I know confidence comes when you step out in courage. So I challenge you to join me and make the courageous choice.
Choose optimism.
Sincerely,
Paige
