#BeAnOptimist

It's pretty easy to talk smack. It's sad when the President of the United States does so frequently
without batting an eye. From "Crooked Hillary" to "Sleepy Joe," another election season is enveloping the US, and the world, and pushing through just like a tornado.

That's why it is important to be an optimist. We must divert our attention from the Twitter feed and the 24-hour news cycle that often shares negative stories or negative angles to what might otherwise be just news - something that happened - and nothing else.

One way to be an optimist is to read, recite, and share the Optimist Creed. Shown to the right is the second tenet of the Optimist Creed: "Promise yourself to talk health, happiness, and prosperity to every person you meet."

If everyone would just do that, the world would be a much more pleasant place to live. It's a good place to be already. Don't you want to make it better?

• Download a printable copy of the Optimist Creed here. 
• Enjoy the Optimist Creed online here.  

Do your part. #BeAnOptimist

The Optimist Creed is good at any time

Three years ago (wow, has it been that long?), I served as the Vice President of the West Region, Optimist International.

One of the things that VPs get to do is visit Optimist Clubs and Districts and to encourage them to share their optimism with others.

October 31, 2015, found me in San Diego, California where I led a breakout session on creating videos and my key point was that with our smartphones, it is so easy to do!

Yes, we can buy editing software and be professional about it, but we can also be spontaneous and authentic, just like this group of Optimist Club members in the California South District.

Please join me in reciting the Optimist Creed as you enjoy the video.

Share optimism with the Optimist Creed

The year of 2017 has left us and now, as we move forward in 2018, we must always promise ourselves to do so with optimism.

To help maintain your positive thoughts this year, we propose a daily reading of the Optimist Creed. To help others maintain their positive thoughts, we encourage you to share optimism by sharing the Optimist Creed.

Please click to download a copy and then share with your friends and colleagues both online and offline. Please keep the optimist movement going throughout the year! Thank you.

What are you giving this season?

It's the giving season. Thanksgiving is this Thursday and then we slide downhill, gathering speed and steam, into Christmas and the new year.

Some might tell you to remember to be grateful and share your gratitude with others, but really, isn't that somewhat trite? Gratitude shouldn't be evident only in November. It should be a year-round practice.

Others might tell you to slow down and enjoy the season, your friends, and family. This is also good advice; but from experience, I know that doesn't always seem possible. It is, but depending on your age, you may not have figured that out just yet.

There are some who wish for expensive toys, gadgets and trinkets and others who struggle to deliver those wishes to everyone on their Christmas list.

And there are some who are sad because of many reasons. It seems that the holiday season can bring out the best and the worst in all of us. That is why I encourage simplicity and optimism at this time of year.

One simple statement will allow you to give the gift of yourself to all you meet. What is it?

Promise yourself to wear a cheerful countenance at all times and give every living creature you meet a smile.

You can celebrate every season, not just the holiday season, when you start every day with a smile.

Click here to enjoy the full Optimist Creed.

Peaceful, easy feeling

Peace. That's what we want in our lives and for the world. When I'm at the ocean, I feel an incredible calm and the tenet from the Optimist Creed, "to be so strong that nothing can disturb your peace of mind," reigns. That's why I wanted to share that peaceful, easy feeling with you.

And just for good measure, here's the rest of the Optimist Creed:

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 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 countenance at all times and give every living creature you meet a smile
• To give so much time to the improvement of yourself that you have no time to criticize others  
• To be too large for worry, too noble for anger, too strong for fear and too happy to permit the presence of trouble.

#ShareOptimism with #FacesofOptimism

If you are like me, you find that different lines of the Optimist Creed inspire you at different times.

For keeping an open mind, I like "To think only of the best, to work only for the best and to expect only the best." There is a tendancy to interpret words and actions differently, expecially across cultural lines. For excellent communication to happen, we have to keep an open mind and be ready to understand others meanings.

For overcoming challenges, I like "To press on to the greater achievements of the future." There will always be roadblocks in our lives, and it is important that they not stop us from achieving our final destination or calling. We must persevere.

For keeping a positive tone, I like "To talk health, happiness and prosperity to every person that you meet." Growing up, I would frequent a local restaurant with my parents. The clientele was older than them and much older than me. The talk would circle around those who were in the hospital or who had gotten bad news, be it a divorce or  job displacement, among other things. I would tell myself that positive words were so much nicer to hear.

I think, however, there is something overwhelmingly special about "To wear a cheerful countenance at all times and give every living creature you meet a smile." You see, when you act out the emotion, you begin to feel the emotion and smiles, being the contagious reflexes that they are, spread to others and all of those smiles make the world a more pleasant place to live.

Optimist International is encouraging others to share their favorite line of the Optimist Creed through a program called #FacesofOptimism. If you want to #shareoptimism, post your professional head shot with the hashtag #FacesofOptimism on your social media channels. I look forward to learning your favorite line of the Optimist Creed!

Recite the Optimist Creed

Members of the California South District - Optimist International were happy to participate in the video demonstration that I presented recently. The topic was the Optimist Creed and perhaps the best way to describe the creed is to recite it and let others feel what it is all about themselves.

Enjoy!

Zone 4 Cal South District recites the Optimist Creed. It's part of the social media exercise at the first quarterly.
Posted by Linda Vaught on Saturday, October 31, 2015

The Optimist Creed redux

I always enjoy a new way to look at the Optimist Creed. It keeps my outlook positive and encourages me to do more in my community to improve the quality of life for those around me. Enjoy.

Recite the Optimist Creed; wake up on the bright side

It's always interesting to see if my weekly thought about joining an Optimist Club has legs. In other words, which one of my pithy little statements will be shared and shared again on Facebook?

I posted this particular thought (Wake up on the bright side of life: Join an Optimist Club)during  the Optimist International Convention and sure enough, it went from coast to coast as Optimist Club members from North America shared it with their own Optimist Clubs.

Most know that the Optimist Creed tells us to "Look at the sunny side of everything and make your optimism come true." If you are striving to do so, it is inevitable that you will wake up with a sunny disposition. I also believe that if you know you have friends who are striving to do the same, you'll try even harder to make your collaborative promise come true.

One of my favorite things about being an Optimist Club member is reciting the Optimist Creed with others. It's a powerful promise when we say the ten resolutions to ourselves each day, and when we say it together, it rings with action.

If you enjoy having a positive nature, and who doesn't, I encourage you to share optimism and join an Optimist Club today.  Click here to find an Optimist Club near you or contact me. I would be happy to help you start a new Optimist Club in your community. 

Optimist spring

Hope blossoms once a year giving rebirth to nature and promising growth and happiness to all who step outside to view its colorful canvas.

Plans are put into action to fulfill the dreams made during the cover of winter's chill. Spring has arrived.

Every day, I read, and sometimes recite, the Optimist Creed. It gives me hope year-round. I don't have to wait for the clouds to clear, the snow to melt, or the sun to shine to share my optimism with the world. The Optimist Creed inspires my optimism every day.

Thanks to the gentlemen who invited me, ever so reluctantly, to join their Optimist Club more than 25 years ago, I find that I have a dose of optimism - a dose of spring - every time I gather with others to share my optimism as part of a group that wants only to do good in their community. We make plans to host oratorical and essay scholarship contests, provide youth sports programs, host Easter egg hunts, show movies in the park and so much more. But most important, we share springtime with hope and positive vision for all.

I invite you to experience a year-round spring by being part of an Optimist Club. Share optimism. Join an Optimist Club. Click here to find an Optimist Club near you or contact me and I will help you start a new Optimist Club in your community.

Talk health, happiness and prosperity to every person you meet

We are a couple of weeks into the new year. Have you kept your resolutions?

In addition to resolving to lose weight and save money, among other things, at the beginning of a  new year many also resolve to have a more positive outlook on life. That happens when you talk about good things.

• Instead of gossiping, talk about happiness.
• Instead of sickness, talk about well-being.
• Instead of debt, talk about wealth. 

Be grateful for all that you have in your life and your positive outlook will shine through. 

However, sometimes we need a little help to keep the positive outlook shining brightly. You know what will help? Join an Optimist Club. 

When you come together with others in an Optimist Club, you promise yourself, in front of witnesses and friends, to look on the sunny side every day. And just like the second line from the Optimist Creed, soon you will be talking about health, happiness and prosperity to every person you meet. 

When you join an Optimist Club you find optimism and when you share optimism with others, your positive outlook becomes a way of life. 

Click here to find an Optimist Club near you and join. If there is not one near, please let me know and I will help you start a new Optimist in your community. 

Say what?

You may remember the 1980's television show "Different Strokes" where young Gary Coleman popularized the skeptical rhetorical reply, "What you talkin' bout Willis?"

When something sounded sketchy or hard to understand, he'd squint, puff out his lips, and tilt his head to the side as the question came forth asking for clarity to whatever situation presented itself that day.

As I was scrolling through my Google alerts for Optimist Clubs today, I found myself in the same pose. What are you talking about, I asked, as I read this quote:

Optimists believe that deep unbreakable faith forged into a fundamental attitude of positive self expectancy is the eternal spring from which all creative, inspirational energy flows. Please take a minute to read our creed; It is the key to maintaining an Optimist's positive mental attitude.

Wow. What an incredibly hard way to say that Optimist Clubs promote a positive vision and that members are hopeful and cheerful, among other optimistic attributes.

This is a good time to remind you about KISS: keep it simple, sweetie.

Share optimism. And be sure the average person can understand what you are sharing.

30 seconds with the Optimist Creed

I was looking at the different cover photos that I have used on the Facebook page for the Pacific Northwest District - Optimist International and I thought, my wouldn't they make a great video? Especially since they are all about what makes an Optimist Club stand head and shoulders above the other service clubs out there - the Optimist Creed.

Please enjoy another way to look at one of my favorite inspirations with this short, 30-second video.


Promise yourself

The Optimist Creed, always

Over the years, I've discovered that Optimist Club meetings vary in style in substance. Some offer informative speakers so that Optimist Club members can learn about what's happening in their communities, among other things. Others focus on business and the Optimist Club members make plans for how they will serve more people and more causes. A few focus on fun and tell jokes and share social time with their community of friends.

However, one thing remains constant. No matter where you travel, an Optimist Club meeting will always begin or end with the Optimist Creed. In the following video, the Optimist Club of Apple Valley, CA shares its rendition of the Optimist Creed featuring the most important part of any club: its people. Enjoy. 

Live the Optimist Creed

Sharing the Optimist Creed is one of my favorite things to do. And it is oh-so easy with social media, from Facebook to Pinterest and beyond, to spread its message far and wide.

The Optimist Creed was written by Christian D. Larson in 1912. In 1922, Optimist International adopted the Optimist Creed as a statement of self-responsibility to make our world a better place to live. It has been adopted by other causes, but none other are as far-reaching as the Optimist Club's ability to do good things in local communities around the world. Every Optimist Club meeting begins or ends by its members reciting the Creed together as they share its promises with one another. Shared promises become more than a dream, they become a responsibility and in time, a reality.

Many individuals choose particular lines from the Optimist Creed as their favorite. As for me, I like them all and depending on the day, one may have more meaning. Today, for instance, I'm finding motivation in, "Press on to the greater achievements of the future."

You see, the summer is almost over and as children return to school, the fall begins with a zest for new beginnings. At work, the summer lull is blossoming into a full schedule of autumn events, events that will nurture the participants. I will take care to share the tenet, "To give so much time to the improvement of yourself that you have no time to criticize others," as I coordinate professional development activities for my employer and as I work with my Optimist Club and District, I will give special attention to, "Make all your friends feel that there is something in them."

There's something in the Optimist Creed for everybody. Read it. Enjoy it. Share it. Most of all, live it. Live the Optimist Creed.

The Sunshine Optimist Club recites the Optimist Creed

The Sunshine Optimist Club was developed within a developmental disability agency, Independent Living Services, in Conway, Arkansas. Its purpose is to help students and their families be better prepared for life after high school. By working through the Optimist Club, parents and children establish different relationships than that of caregiver and child and together they make informed decisions about moving forward to an independent lifestyle.

For some parents, knowing that there is a social, emotional, and professional network available to their child makes it easier for them to let go. As members of an Optimist Club, the young adults get to perform community service with peers and build relationships with others outside of the immediate circle of friends.

While this model is still new, and I'm not aware of any other groups that have tried this option, one thing is certain, Optimist Club members from all walks of life enjoy performing one act together. That act is shown in this video as the Sunshine Optimist Club recites the Optimist Creed. Please watch, and don't be afraid to join in.

The tenet that reminds us to Lean In

It's possible that I'm being overly critical with the observation that I am going to share today. It's also possible that I don't know the whole story, but I'm going with my perception, for what it's worth. Today I noticed on LinkedIn that one of my contacts listed his wife's achievement as his own. She earned a Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal, an honor given to individuals in Canada to honor Her Majesty for her service. If he had received it, I know that  he would have been included in this picture, and if not the picture, the story that accompanied it. 

Seriously, as if women don't have enough trouble being recognized for what they do, now some men feel the need to usurp their well-deserved recognition as well?

Optimist Clubs and members respect and most live by the words of the Optimist Creed. One of the tenets is "Promise yourself to be just as enthusiastic about the success of others as you are about your own." It reminds us to be a cheerleader for others. 

I know, and Sheryl Sandberg and the Lean In organization are certainly making it well-known, that women deserve champions. I encourage all men, please start with your wife, daughter, mother, sister or just a good friend. Tell them why they are great, and then tell the world as well. Your words of encouragement will help them feel good about their skills, and proud of their accomplishments. It will also help others discover their worth. 

For your next step, do the same thing at work. Help a female coworker get a promotion, raise or at least the acknowledgement she deserves for the value of the work she does every day. 

When we do this, women and men working together to help each other get ahead, we can make the world a better - and more equal - place to live. 

Oh, and in case my message was oblique, please don't steal the hard work or honors of others. That's just not nice, not to mention, it's unprofessional. 

About those dated timeline photo covers

I manage Facebook pages for several different Optimist Clubs as well as the page for the Pacific Northwest District - Optimist International.  I like to change the cover photo at least once a month with a new line from the Optimist Creed.

Sometime last year, Optimist International created cover photos for Optimist Clubs to use. There is an album available on its Facebook page with the 10 popular tenets in English and French. I thank them for that; but I'd also like to make a recommendation. It's time to update them!

Yes, some are cuter or more inspirational than others and those get more play on Facebook and other social media channels. I've included my personal favorite here. But we could vary our message and reach more diverse audiences if we had even more to choose from. Yes, I could make some cover photos myself, but this is one area of support that I believe Optimist International should be willing to provide as it can be done with little expense or trouble.

Optimist International? Are you listening? Optimist Clubs want to tell the Optimist story, but they could use a little professional help in the graphic design area. Thank you.

Ten resolutions: Live the Optimist Creed

I know that I should probably say that what I like most about belonging to an Optimist Club are the people. Working together with others who share similar goals and ideas for our communities is special and I do appreciate the friendships that I have made in my club and throughout the Optimist International organization. 

However, what I like most about belonging to an Optimist Club is the Optimist Creed. The Optimist Creed, written by Christian D. Larson and adopted by Optimist International in 1922, provides ten simple resolutions that will lead the reader to happiness. As we make our resolutions for the new year, one would be wise to keep the tenets of the Optimist Creed in mind. Adopt the words, and actions, as the way you choose to live each day:

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 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 countenance at all times and give every living creature you meet a smile.
To give so much time to the improvement of yourself that you have no time to criticize others
To be too large for worry, too noble for anger, too strong for fear and too happy to permit the presence of trouble.

 Download a printable copy of the Optimist Creed. 

As you might imagine, one can read and live by the Optimist Creed without belonging to an Optimist Club and while that is a good start, your purpose is not complete until you share your commitment with others.

Optimist Club members promise to share a positive way of life with others. They support one another, and their communities, with this dream and draw strength from one another in order to fulfill it. You, and those around you, will draw the same strength by sharing optimism with others. Join an Optimist Club and be a positive force for good in your home and community.

Student speaks with optimism

Caleb Blair

I love this picture. It was posted by Barbara Jacoby for the Canton-Sixes Patch in Georgia. She was promoting, rightfully so, the winner of the Georgia District-Optimist International Communications Contest for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing where Teasley Middle School student Caleb Blair won a $2,500 college scholarship for his presentation on "How my optimism helps me overcome obstacles."

I love the picture for what it symbolizes: a young man, standing behind a banner of the Optimist Creed, talking in his language (ASL) about optimism. That's a powerful image.

Congratulations to Caleb and thank you to all contestants who participated in the Optimist International Communications Contests for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing this year.