Narrate an incident when optimism help you to come out of difficult situation.
Answers
Just imagine if you could get past your obstacles in life. Well, there is a way, and that’s optimism. I was asked a question and asked to come up with a topic. The question was, “How can you use optimism to get past obstacles in your everyday life?” Well, let me tell you how I’ve done it.
I have had many obstacles in the past with sports. One of these problems was optimism. Every time I messed up, I have gotten down on myself and gotten worse. That’s what I have realized now. Whenever I think of messing up, I keep on doing bad. It has taken me six years to stop my pessimism in most sports, but I still need some help with a few.
It was Sunday, February 5, my eighth basketball game of the season. I was missing most of my shots, and I had been getting down on myself. My coach gave me a little pep talk, and I was feeling a lot better and scored some points for us. The Optimist Creed says, “To forget the mistakes of the past and press on to the greater achievements of the future.” That is one thing I definitely need to do when I am playing sports.
I’m on a bowling team, and whenever I have a bad frame, I start getting mad, and then I keep on getting worse and worse each frame. The next game, I forgot about what happened in the last game, and I scored about 40 points over my average, and that’s a lot since I’m only a first-year bowler.
Baseball I think has been the most challenging sport for my optimism. This is also my most challenging sport physically. The only thing I excelled at in baseball was in my pitching. I was pretty bad at fielding, batting and base-running, so I really got down on myself all the time. Whenever I did something good for once, I would get over my bad play, and if I did another bad thing, I would get over it unless, of course, we were losing.
The Optimist Creed says, “To be so strong that nothing can disturb your peace of mind.” I already have this one down, and I do it every single day. I can relate to this quote when I read a book. When I read, I am finally at peace with myself. I could read any good book in a crazy environment. I can read a book if there are three other kids in my car yelling their heads off, or when everyone in my class is talking and laughing. So, when I read a book no one can disturb me unless they say my name several times.
The Optimist Creed says, “To look at the sunny side of everything and make your optimism come true.” This is also another thing I need to work on in everyday life. I have always looked at the cup half empty instead of half full. Let’s say, if I got lots of homework, but it’s something that’s easy, I would always think, “This is so much homework, I’m never going to get it done.” So then, I would keep delaying, and whatever I have for homework never gets done. What I need to do is to think of the cup as half full, and start on my homework straight away. Then I could get it done a lot quicker.
One time I had a project for writing class, and I had a whole month to do it. I had delayed and delayed and delayed all month. I started the project three days before it was due, and I was up very late the last day. Thomas Jefferson said, “Don’t put off until tomorrow, what can be done today.” I need to put that quote up in my room. My dad had constantly reminded me of that quote. He still does today, but I was too stubborn to take it seriously.
I used to have a bad grade in science, but using my optimism, and the help of my mom to overcome my problems, I brought my grade up to an A. I have been very, very happy ever since that happened. I think that my improved grade was a really big morale booster for me. It has helped me with my grades in many other subjects.
I realized that sports have also helped me instead of bring me down. They have helped me blow off lots of steam if I’ve had a bad day at school or at home. If I didn’t play in any sports, I would probably go crazy.
As most of you know, optimism can help anybody overcome their obstacles, and I am probably one of the least optimistic people you will ever meet, but I can have another side, too. Maria Robinson, who stated one of the most inspiring quotes I’ve read so far this year, said, “No one can go back and start a new beginning, but anyone can start today and make a new ending.” And that is my message, from me to you.