“It’s not happy people that are thankful. But instead, thankful people who are happy.”
Do you use this powerful weapon, “optimism”? …. with gratitude rather than judgment?
Sometimes we judge people who are so positive, or we judge ourselves. We even say, “Don’t try to be strong or don’t try to pretend to be strong”, because we can see how bad the situation the person is in. And later, we may also experience the fact that, if we train ourselves regularly enough, it becomes a habit that we can shorten the process of feeling bad.
Over the last few weeks, I have been in treatment for my liver, and I experienced two different aspects of life: Two female patients with two different perspectives in their condition, one focused on caring about others, one focused on feeling bad for herself. We can choose any perspective, and we receive back the feelings that the perspectives bring to us.
Optimism itself will not create results, but it is the door to our action with a higher possibility to create great results.
OPTIMISIM CAN WORK WELL EVEN WHEN THE DEATH IS CLOSE.
“Hi, join me to celebrate my living three more months”!
What do you feel when reading the text? Sounds scary - how can a person celebrate their own death? But at the same time, it has a positive vibe – how can it not be so?
Each moment we have is a chance to celebrate and to feel that way, we will live life to our fullest.
This is the text that Brian sent to his friends when knowing his cancer gave him three months to live. He had lived life fully and when he knew he couldn’t change that truth, he wanted to make the best out of his remaining time.
This is a true story told by my mentor when teaching me about the art of celebration because I avoided celebrating myself: my birthday, or my graduation ceremony or what I have done in the past.
On a similar day, I heard a story of a 99-year-old man who was strong and sporty and he passed away while surfing – such a healthy state to be in when leaving this planet.
I admired them. I admired their celebration when facing one of the biggest fears of human beings – DEATH. They lived fully – they also died fully.
‘LEAD WITH OPTIMISM.
I am thankful to welcome Toastmasters 2021 World Champion, Verity Price to our conversation this week on the topic of, “Lead with optimism”.
BIO: What does it take to be the first? Way back in 2005, Verity started her journey as the first South African musician with the tenacious foresight to get online crowdfunding for an album she hadn't even recorded at the time. Fifteen years later, and with a career glittered with accolades, we arrive in 2021 and can see Verity's latest big first - first speaker from Africa ever to be crowned the World Champion of Public Speaking and the sixth woman in history.
Her talent for “acting out the box” rather than merely “thinking out” of it, has brought her international success, speaking globally on innovation, and thinking differently. She has spoken twice in two TEDx Talks.
As the Toastmasters 2021 World Champion, Verity captured the judges, and thousands of people’s imagination with her winning speech, ‘A Great Read’ - an inspiring invitation to improve our lives by, "writing a different story". Verity’s passion is helping people to do just that.
With a degree in Psychology and Anthropology from UCT, as an accredited De Bono Six Thinking Hats facilitator and an advocate for Positive Psychology, Verity believes passionately that change happens when teams have the confidence to create new ideas. She has crafted speeches and workshops to grow this ability with measurable, exponential success over the last decade.
