I found my answer to this question in the following piece of writing by Christian D. Larson. Born in Iowa in 1874, Larson was a popular “new thought” writer in the late 1800s and early 1900s. The work cited here was first published in 1912, and was adopted as the official creed of Optimists International ten years later.
Promise yourself . . .
To be so strong that nothing can disturb your peace of mind.
To talk health, happiness, and prosperity to every person you meet.
To make all your friends feel that there is something worthwhile in them.
To look at the sunny side of everything and make your optimism come true.
To think only of the best, to work only for the best, and to expect only the best.
To be just as enthusiastic about the success of others as you are about your own.
To forget the mistakes of the past and press on to the greater achievements of the future.
To wear a cheerful expression at all times and give a smile to every living creature you meet.
To give so much time to improving yourself that you have no time left to criticize others.
To be too large for worry, too noble for anger, to strong for fear, too happy to permit the presence of trouble.
To think well of yourself and to proclaim this fact to the world, not in loud words, but in great deeds.
To live in the faith that the whole world is on your side, so long as you are true to the best that is in you.
It’s a tall order, I know. I don’t pretend to do it all perfectly, or even to do it all – yet. But, each morning, I get up and promise myself that just for today I will live this creed to the best of my ability. And each day, I expect to do better at it than I did the day before. It may not be much compared to what there is to do, but it’s my little patch and it’s what I can do. How about you?
Tags: action, believe, Faith, focus, give, optimist, self-improvement, trust, work
