Optimism: when there is water all around, swim across it

Just like a sudden wave can wash away everything, a sudden difficulty can wash away our optimism. And when that happens; there is water all over. So, what to do with this water? Simple.

Just swim across it.

We all face situations when we are stranded with possibilities which we think as unmanageable, impossible and devastating. There are two ways to deal with it. Number one, be bitter about it or number two, search for a way out.

So, what did the penguins do when the iceberg was tearing apart? Well, they took a plunge into the ocean, and found a way out. In other words, being bitter and doing nothing is easy but trying to change it and searching a way out, now, this is a task.

Few years back, I adopted a Thai word called “su su” สู้, which means “to fight, don’t give up.” It is often used by people to cheer you up.

So, my point is that when you face difficulties and find it hard to find optimism, su su, because it is that moment of your life when you need more strength and courage than usual. This is the moment when you need to push harder instead of giving up.

According to oxford dictionary, optimism is the hopefulness and confidence about the future or the successful outcome of something. My question is: how to find optimism at difficult times?

For starters, below are the few strategies, that you can work upon:

Shifting your mindset:

Feed yourself with good thoughts. Dive into things that provide a source of immense joy. Colors, balloons, bubbles; find your source of joys. Let your thoughts swim in a positive pool. Visualize.

Breathe in love, breathe out loneliness. 
Breathe in comfort, breathe out limitations. 
Breathe in stillness, breathe out pain. 
Breathe in happiness, breathe out darkness. 
Breathe in confidence, breathe out fear. 
Breathe in life, breathe out destruction. 

With every breathe, just breathe.

Action into your passion:

All you need to do is to channelize yourself into your passion. In other words, bounce back through the means of something that you like to do, something that you love. Dance, sing, read, write- just let your heart out.

Swimming across:

Resilience is an outlook of focusing on the most important things rather than being carried away by negativity. Moreover, with resilience it gets easier to pick ourselves up even after a setback.

But this is not enough, we must seek a step beyond resilience. With antifraqility, one gets better. Basically, after every wave, we can emerge even stronger.

Above all, Nana korobi ya oki 七転び八起き :Fall seven times, rise eight.