Optimism is like magic – it has the power to make the impossible a reality because it gives folks to courage and motivation to try. If there is one thing we believe everyone should guard with their life, it’s their optimism and so we asked some of the most optimistic folks we know to talk to us about how they developed their optimism.
Russell Wyche
My optimism comes from experience — from knowing what it feels like to be at the bottom and realizing that even then, the story isn’t over. Working in film production, I’ve learned that no matter how well you plan, something always goes wrong — a location falls through, talent drops out, or the funding hits a wall. Read more>>
Kevin May
My optimism comes from witnessing the power of community events to transform people’s lives. I’ve experienced it personally on many occasions and also heard countless stories from friends who I’ve met at concerts, Song Circles, Ecstatic Dance and Transformational Festivals. Recently I reconnected with a friend named Adam, whom I’d met at a Transformational Festival a few years earlier. Read more>>
Aleksey Kernes
PMA positive mental attitude has become a way of life for me. What you put out there is what you get back; so i make it my business to always be nice. A bit of mental hacking over the years with positive habits. Read more>>
Abel B. Padilla
Sunlight. It might sound a bit clichéd, but every morning I embrace the sunlight. It is some kind of meditative moment for me. It reminds me of the beauty that lies within our world. It can be challenging at times, as there are occasions when circumstances test our optimism. But I make an effort to focus on positivity each day. Read more>>
Melissa Pleckham
I think about all the people who stand to benefit from me feeling bad about myself or giving up on the things that are important to me. Capitalism is predicated upon creating and maintaining scarcity consciousness — don’t give in to it. The world is beautiful! Creation is divine! Abundance is yours! So basically, I’m optimistic out of spite. Read more>>
Mark Stehrenberger
I’m the luckiest guy on the planet for at a very early age already I recognized my passion for automobiles. And I followed it with determination: I became a car designer. I’m sure my father owning seven cars had something to do that the blood in my veins turned to gasoline as a toddler already. Read more>>
Vanessa Hartley
Faith, Hope and Love. I do, wholeheartedly believe that God controls my fate and the outcome of my life and when I do what is right, I am rewarded, by God with good things, blessings and his grace and favour. Read more>>
Nicole Gregory
Optimism is a fascinating word. I think in some ways with the rise of ‘positive thinking’ it has lost its beauty and potency. The definition of optimism: ‘hopefulness and confidence about the future or the successful outcome of something’. Growing up, I had the honor of watching my father live out the truest example of what optimism has become to me. Read more>>
Ethan Lipsitz
Over time I’ve realized that my life is better when there’s something to hope for, something to hold my intentions. Optimism has become an internal operating system for me to express myself. Without it I’m not sure I’d be able to conjure much purpose. When I was young that purpose and intention was about becoming a rock star and finding love. Read more>>
Antwain Shaw-huff
I try staying optimistic in a world of inspiration being at its highest right nowadays, everyone wanting to be on the same path creatively. I tend finding my self doing new things and not letting a project be less important or too important to me. Read more>>
Natia Ramishvili
My optimism comes from my own journey. I didn’t grow up with everything laid out for me. I learned to create opportunities, not wait for them. That experience shaped me. It taught me that even when life is hard, there is always a way forward a solution, a lesson, or a new beginning. That mindset became my source of optimism. Read more>>
Rania Hoteit
My optimism comes from a deep understanding that transformation is always possible, even in the most challenging circumstances. Growing up in war-torn Lebanon, I witnessed loss, displacement, and uncertainty firsthand, yet I also saw the resilience of people who refused to give up. Read more>>
Bobby Miller
My optomism comes from my faith. I am a Christian who religiously reads the Bible, attends my local church, and leads my family to do the same. I love the life I have to live and wish there was more hours in the day. Read more>>
Leon Washington Jr.
I believe my optimism comes from a combination of my family, the schools I attended, and positive thinking. My family taught me to believe in God and through him, all things are possible. The schools I attended were some of the best in the city and they instilled in me a belief and confidence that I am one of the best and brightest. Read more>>
Laurnie Wilson
I know that there are countless reasons to not be optimistic right now. So for me, choosing to be optimistic isn’t about ignoring the challenges or adversity that exist, but being intentional about how I navigate whatever life has thrown my way. Because the truth is, life is going to life! It actually doesn’t matter if you are optimistic or not. Read more>>
Dustin Reed
Heating a solid so hot it becomes a viscous liquid and trying to control the outcome is almost a codependency with optimism. There are so many factors and variables involved in the process of any glass art but specially torch working. Once the object is made it goes into an annealing oven over night and the results aren’t known until the next morning. Read more>>
Emilly Schooley
The core of my personal brand of optimism is that I’ve learned how to hold the ‘both/and’ infinite shades of grey that life continually throws at us. Everything grows and blooms and changes and dies and decomposes, and is eventually reborn as something new – and all of those steps of the process are both necessary and beautiful in their own way. Read more>>
Brooke Stevens
I think my optimism comes from facing life head on truthfully. From running my business, raising my kids, to navigating the daily challenges that come from both. Every setback teaches me something new, every tough day reminds me that I’m capable of more than I ever thought. Read more>>
Lorraine Pimienta
There was a time that wasn’t so optimistic. I was pretty sick as a child (I overcame two bouts of cancer by the time I was four years old and then was in kidney failure from the age of 14-18 years old) and I did not look at the world very favorably at all. Read more>>
Laura Schreiber
I think that your optimism precedes your career choice and path. A person is either optimistic in nature or not, and for me, I have always been a glass-half-full kind of gal. That is certainly helpful in an industry like voice over, when rejection and auditions are so much a part of our daily reality. Read more>>
Peggy Lohr
My optimism absolutely came from my sweet, funny mom! Her name was Felice ( which means happiness!) and she always loved that and lived that. She was a Pollyanna, always seeing the glass half full. It wasn’t that she had an easy life. She grew up during The Great Depression. It’s that she always appreciated what she had and found humor in every day things. Read more>>
