However, I have done a lot of reading on this state and would be happy to write about it if it’s of interest to readers. The scope of this blogpost isn’t to deal with acedia or even explore it. In the Christian faith, it is a desolation of sorts). I would argue that the opposite of pessimism is something called acedia (a hopelessness or spiritual depression. Ironically, people tend to think of the opposite of optimism as pessimism. The same concept must also be applied to the amount of optimism we require for peak performance as human beings. In fact, as a water-soluble vitamin, our bodies have a very, very clever way of eliminating any excess or unmetabolized vitamin C through our urine, so that we don’t have too much of it in our system at any one time. This is, quite simply, delusional, and potentially dangerous or painful (as it can exacerbate issues like hemochromatosis or oxalate-formed kidney stones, etc.). Imagine… we only need 40mg of vitamin C a day, and yet, people take 1000mg daily of this vitamin daily, believing that the more it’s consumed, the better the body will be for it. Likewise, too much of this vitamin will eventually cause different problems (you can check my vitamin C factfile for more info about this). A chronic deficiency in this vitamin will eventually cause problems. We only need 40mg of this vitamin a day for optimal performance. This is a truth as pertains to both natural and supernatural law.Ī helpful analogy for balance is our daily intake of vitamins.
What we need for optimal performance must be at the right amount. It’s one of my life’s missions, to acquire balance in myself, and to help others attain it too – not just physiological balance (what is called homeostasis), but in all things that ontologically touch a human’s personhood. Excessive optimismĪs with all things of nature or spirit, balance exists and must be attained. One of the earliest use of the term ‘optimism’ is in the work of Leibniz in the early 1700’s, but in modern history, the scholarly works into mental health of Fromm (1955), Freud (1966), Taylor & Brown (1988) and Seligman (today looked up to as the father of positive psychology) bring us to the popular definition of ‘optimism’ as we know it today, which is ‘a generalised expectation that good things will happen’ (Carver & Scheier, 2009) and is regarded as an attributional style (Seligman, 2006), a trait (Carver & Scheier, 2009) and an inherent human characteristic (Sharot, Riccardi, Raio & Phelps, 2007). Judeo-Christianity defines hope as the ‘greatest of all God’s gifts’, together with the other theological virtues of faith and charity. Loss of hope results in a loss of optimism, for optimism cannot survive without hope. Optimism’s root, called ‘hope’, is a foundational virtue for its rise in the human heart and provides its nourishment. It was the first time I’d ever heard the word optimist (to my recollection) and have felt close to it ever since! What is ‘optimism’? When it came to my turn, I was described as a nightingale because I sang and because I was an optimist. I really loved this group activity, and even now I tend to use it as a team-building exercise for already existing working groups (or families)! One at a time, we had to wait outside the room whilst the others discussed which animal he or she was most like, and to describe his or her qualities.
#DELUSIONAL OPTIMISM DEFINITION PROFESSIONAL#
If there is someone in your personal or professional life showing these kinds of behaviours, it could be that you are having to deal with a delusional optimist.ĭuring a week-long school trip to Shrewsbury in year 6 (ages 10-11), our year group were divided into smaller groups for a group activity.
Does your line manager or business partner easily sweep issues and concerns under the carpet with careless dismissal of the impact this would have on workforce morale or workload?.Can you think of a friend who haphazardly or even recklessly makes illogical decisions without first considering the consequences or potential outcomes?.
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