{"id":992,"date":"2016-08-15T23:04:44","date_gmt":"2016-08-16T04:04:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/optimism\/"},"modified":"2016-08-15T23:04:44","modified_gmt":"2016-08-16T04:04:44","slug":"optimism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/optimism\/","title":{"rendered":"Optimism"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:6.0pt;line-height:normal'><b>Warning Label<\/b><\/p>\n<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-top:0cm;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:0cm; margin-left:18.0pt;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-indent:-18.0pt;line-height:normal'>\u2022&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; \u201cCaution: Cape does not enable user to fly.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=MsoNormal align=right style='margin-bottom:6.0pt;text-align:right; line-height:normal'>Warning label on Kenner Products\u2019 Batman costume<\/p>\n<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:6.0pt;line-height:normal'><b>Optimists are Motivated<\/b><\/p>\n<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:3.0pt;text-indent:18.0pt;line-height: normal'>Psychologist Martin Segilman of the University of Pennsylvania advised the MetLife insurance company to hire a special groups of job applicants who tested high on optimism, although they had failed the normal aptitude test. Compared with salesmen who passed the aptitude test but scored high in pessimism, this group made 21 percent more sales in their first year and 57 percent more in their second. A pessimist is likely to interpret rejection as meaning \u201cI\u2019m a failure; I\u2019ll never make a sale.\u201d Optimists tell themselves, \u201cI\u2019m using the wrong approach,\u201d or \u201cThat customer was in a bad mood.\u201d By blaming failure on the situation, not themselves, optimists are motivated to make that next call.<\/p>\n<p class=MsoNormal align=right style='margin-bottom:6.0pt;text-align:right; line-height:normal'>What\u2019s Your Emotional I.Q.?, Reader\u2019s Digest, January, 1996, from Emotional Intelligence, 1995, by Daniel Goleman, Bantam Books<\/p>\n<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:6.0pt;line-height:normal'><b>Quote<\/b><\/p>\n<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-top:0cm;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:0cm; margin-left:18.0pt;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-indent:-18.0pt;line-height:normal'>\u2022&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; I\u2019m so optimistic I\u2019d go after Moby Dick in a rowboat and take the tartar sauce with me. &#8211; Zig Ziglar<\/p>\n<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-top:0cm;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:0cm; margin-left:18.0pt;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-indent:-18.0pt;line-height:normal'>\u2022&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; An optimist believes we live in the best of all possible worlds. A pessimist fears this is true.<\/p>\n<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-top:0cm;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:0cm; margin-left:18.0pt;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-indent:-18.0pt;line-height:normal'>\u2022&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The tire is only flat on the bottom.<\/p>\n<p class=MsoNormal align=right style='margin-bottom:6.0pt;text-align:right; line-height:normal'>Source unknown<\/p>\n<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:6.0pt;line-height:normal'><b>Report Card<\/b><\/p>\n<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:3.0pt;text-indent:18.0pt;line-height: normal'>I read about a schoolboy who brought home his report card. It was heavy with poor grades. \u201cWhat have you to say about this?\u201d asked his father. \u201cOne thing for sure,\u201d the boy replied, \u201cDad, you can be proud. You know I haven\u2019t been cheating!\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=MsoNormal align=right style='margin-bottom:6.0pt;text-align:right; line-height:normal'>Morning Glory, August 12, 1993<\/p>\n<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:6.0pt;line-height:normal'><b>Exceptional Winning Streak<\/b><\/p>\n<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:3.0pt;text-indent:18.0pt;line-height: normal'>Exceptional winning streaks by teams at relatively obscure high schools or colleges are not uncommon, but even so we feel an obligation to report that the girls\u2019 volleyball team at Dayville High School in Oregon ran off a string of 65 victories before losing. What makes this streak so appealing is that Dayville High has only 18 girl students: 16 are on the volleyball squad and the 17th keeps score.<\/p>\n<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:3.0pt;text-indent:18.0pt;line-height: normal'>Although Dayville is one of the smallest Class B high schools in the state, it won the Class A volleyball championship for three years running. Part of its success must be due to its unbridled optimism. The letter that brought word of the winning streak said that after the defeat, \u201cThe team rebounded and has a winning streak of one.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=MsoNormal align=right style='margin-bottom:6.0pt;text-align:right; line-height:normal'>Sports Illustrated<\/p>\n<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:6.0pt;line-height:normal'><b>Winners<\/b><\/p>\n<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:3.0pt;text-indent:18.0pt;line-height: normal'>Winners see luck as opportunity. They see the rewards of success in advance. They do not fear the penalties of failure.<\/p>\n<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:3.0pt;text-indent:18.0pt;line-height: normal'>The winning individual knows that bad luck is attracted by negative thinking and that an attitude of optimistic expectancy is the surest way to create an upward cycle and to attract the best of luck most of the time.<\/p>\n<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:3.0pt;text-indent:18.0pt;line-height: normal'>Winners know that so-called luck is the intersection of preparation and opportunity. If an individual is not prepared, he or she simply does not see or take advantage of a situation. Opportunities are always around, but only those who are prepared utilize them effectively.<\/p>\n<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:3.0pt;text-indent:18.0pt;line-height: normal'>Winners seem to be lucky because their positive self-expectancy enables them to better prepared for their opportunities.<\/p>\n<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:3.0pt;text-indent:18.0pt;line-height: normal'>When asked by a news reporter how she thought she would do in one of her early career swimming meets in the United States several years ago, 14-year-old Australian Shane Gould replied, \u201cI have a feeling there will be a world record today.\u201d She went on to set two world records in the one-hundred and two-hundred-meter freestyle events.<\/p>\n<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:3.0pt;text-indent:18.0pt;line-height: normal'>When asked how she thought she would fare in the more testing, grueling, four-hundred-meter event, Shane replied with a smile, \u201cI get stronger every race, and besides &#8230; my parents said they\u2019d take me to Disneyland if I win, and we\u2019re leaving tomorrow!\u201d she went to Disneyland with three world records. At 16 she held five world records and became one of the greatest swimmers of all time, winning three gold medals in the 1972 Olympics. She learned early about the power of self-expectancy.<\/p>\n<p class=MsoNormal align=right style='margin-bottom:6.0pt;text-align:right; line-height:normal'>Denis Waitley in The Winner\u2019s Edge (Berkley Books) quoted in Bits &amp; Pieces, March 4, 1993, pp. 13-15<\/p>\n<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:6.0pt;line-height:normal'><b>Check-Out Line<\/b><\/p>\n<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:3.0pt;text-indent:18.0pt;line-height: normal'>As soon as I began unloading my groceries, the checkout clerk excused herself, saying she\u2019d be right back. I continued emptying my shopping cart when I heard a woman\u2019s voice behind me. \u201cPardon me,\u201d she said. \u201cIs this line open, or are you just an optimist?\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=MsoNormal align=right style='margin-bottom:6.0pt;text-align:right; line-height:normal'>Patricia Carroll in Sunshine Magazine<\/p>\n<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:6.0pt;line-height:normal'><b>Twins<\/b><\/p>\n<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:3.0pt;text-indent:18.0pt;line-height: normal'>Two boys who were twins, one an incurable optimist, one a pessimist. The parents were worried about the extremes of behavior and attitude and finally took the boys in to see a psychologist. The psychologist observed them a while and then said that they could be easily helped. He said that they had a room filled with all the toys a boy could want. They would put the pessimist in that room and allow him to enjoy life. They also had another room that they filled with horse manure. They put the optimist in that room. They observed both boys through one way mirrors. The pessimist continued to be a pessimist, stating that he had no one to play with. They went to look in on the optimist, and were astounded to find him digging through the manure. The psychologist ran into the room and asked what on earth the boy was doing. He replied that with all that manure, he was sure there had to be a pony in the room somewhere.<\/p>\n<p class=MsoNormal align=right style='margin-bottom:6.0pt;text-align:right; line-height:normal'>Source unknown<\/p>\n<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:6.0pt;line-height:normal'><b>The Baseball Game<\/b><\/p>\n<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:3.0pt;line-height:normal'>I passed a sand lot yesterday, Some kids were playing ball.  I strolled along the third base line  Within the fielder\u2019s call. \u201cSay, what\u2019s the score?\u201d I asked. He yelled to beat the stuffing, \u201cThere\u2019s no one out, the bases full, They\u2019re winning forty-two to nothing!\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:3.0pt;line-height:normal'>\u201cYou\u2019re getting beat, aren\u2019t you my friend?\u201d And then in no time flat He answered, \u201cNo, sir, not as yet! Our side hasn\u2019t been up to bat!\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=MsoNormal align=right style='margin-bottom:6.0pt;text-align:right; line-height:normal'>Source unknown<\/p>\n<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:6.0pt;line-height:normal'><b>Thomas Jefferson<\/b><\/p>\n<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:3.0pt;text-indent:18.0pt;line-height: normal'>During his days as president, Thomas Jefferson and a group of companions were traveling across the country on horseback. They came to a river which had left its banks because of a recent downpour. The swollen river had washed the bridge away. Each rider was forced to ford the river on horseback, fighting for his life against the rapid currents. The very real possibility of death threatened each rider, which caused a traveler who was not part of their group to step aside and watch.<\/p>\n<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:3.0pt;text-indent:18.0pt;line-height: normal'>After several had plunged in and made it to the other side, the stranger asked President Jefferson if he would ferry him across the river. The president agreed without hesitation. The man climbed on, and shortly thereafter the two of them made it safely to the other side. As the stranger slid off the back of the saddle onto dry ground, one in the group asked him, \u201cTell me, why did you select the president to ask this favor of?\u201d The man was shocked, admitting he had no idea it was the president who had helped him. \u201cAll I know,\u201d he said, \u201cIs that on some of your faces was written the answer \u2018No,\u2019 and on some of them was the answer \u2018yes.\u2019 His was a \u2018Yes\u2019 face.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=MsoNormal align=right style='margin-bottom:6.0pt;text-align:right; line-height:normal'>The Grace Awakening, C. Swindoll, Word, 1990, p. 6<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Warning Label \u2022&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; \u201cCaution: Cape does not enable user to fly.\u201d Warning label on Kenner Products\u2019 Batman costume Optimists are Motivated Psychologist Martin Segilman of the University of Pennsylvania advised the MetLife insurance company to hire a special groups of job applicants who tested high on optimism, although they had failed the normal aptitude test. &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/optimism\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;Optimism&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-992","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sermons"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/992","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=992"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/992\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=992"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=992"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=992"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}