LIFE'S OUTLOOK

"Two men look out the same prison bars;
one sees mud and the other stars."

This famous quotation by Rev. Frederick Langbridge, the Irish author and novelist, precisely encapsulates the true mean of Outlook and its subsequent effect on behavior.

The Thesaurus defines Outlook as a habitual or characteristic mental attitude that determines how you will interpret and respond to situations. It is a fundamental and simply uncontroversial truth that a positive outlook in life makes a world of difference on the outcome of any encounter, and equally, the wrong outlook dooms even the simplest task. Being positive and optimistic about a situation, irregardless of it’s complexity and difficulty, will go a long way to helping achieve success. And by contrast, even the simplest task could have a disastrous outcome in the hands of someone who is primed to fail.

In this context I am reminded of a song made popular by Frank Sinatra in 1959 entitled, “High Hopes”, which was adopted and modified by John F. Kennedy in 1960 at the start of his successful presidential campaign. The song deals with a few bizarre scenarios where animals challenge and overcome impossible situations because of their positive outlook, such as, an ant moving a tree, and a ram bringing down a dam. It created a sensation when it was published and not only won the Academy Award for Best Song of that year, but became a standard, used to encourage people to try harder. It certainly was very effectively used to reinforce the image of JFK as the right candidate to be president.

Acquiring the right outlook is not always easy to do. Like any other personality trait its acquisition is dependent on multiple factors including heredity, familial, environmental, educational and social exposure. The more positive environment a child is exposed to, the more encouragement he is given, and the more opportunity he has to achieve success, will all play major roles in reinforcing a positive outlook. By contrast, being exposed in an environment of fear and pessimism and extreme caution and timidity, will only serve to doom the child to a life committed to avoiding failure rather than achieving success.

That is a real pity, for the truth is that we can all do more, and achieve more, by trying to cultivate and apply a positive outlook to any situation. We cannot allow a bad experience or outcome to affect our outlook and compromise our chance of success. In fact, staying positive is not difficult to achieve, nor is it limited to a special group of people. We should all recognize that we do have the power to choose how we deal with a situation and that maintaining a positive outlook is much easier than it appears. In the end, life is what you make of it and it is up to you to decide how you deal with your problems.

Richard M. DeVos, the founder of the highly successful consumer products company, AMWAY INTERNATIONAL, described this quite effectively, and in a way that strongly deserves your sincere consideration:

Life; It tends to respond to our Outlook,

to shape itself to meet our expectation.

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To curb this sense of envy and jealousy.
We must develop a broader Outlook.
……Sri Sathya Sai Baba

Your Outlook upon life are largely colored by your environment.
Your whole career will be modified, shaped, molded by your surroundings;
By the character of the people with whom you come in contact every day.
……..Orison Swett Marden

The rapprochement of peoples is only possible
when differences of Outlook are respected and appreciated,
rather than feared and condemned.
……H. William Fullbright

Tough times never last, but tough people do.
……. Dr. Robert Schuller

I have treated many hundreds of patients.
Among those in the second half of life - that is to say, over 35,
there has not been one whose problem in the last resort
was not that of finding a religious outlook on life.

…….Carl Jung