Nuclear optimism

The clock shines 10:00 AM in Eric’s room. It’s time for another round of chemo therapy. He’s spent six months in this hospital. Each day brings a different bouquet and Hallmark card. Looking at them makes Eric feel nauseous. He already can’t stand looking in the mirror at where his once plentiful hair once grew. As he is being transported down the hall, he finds himself looking into other patients rooms only to be disappointed with the same flowers and cards laying in a pile next to the IV. He…

and Disadvantages of Optimism Numerous research have been conducted in order to find the advantages of optimism on physical health, mental health, coping style, career goals and social relationships. One specific advantage that was studied by Andrew Steptoe and his colleagues was the effect optimism had on healthy behavioral choice of older people in London. Health behavior such as smoking, alcohol consumption and physical activity were factors used for their research. Optimism was positively…

feel I would be good at. I have also been able to identify some of my core values while at PLU as well, such as optimism and creativity. Optimism I believe easily ties into hope, in that being optimistic that something will work can lead to strong hope that it will work. Being able to see the glass half full will help me because even if I reach challenges that I fail to meet, my optimism will help me think that there is still a high possibility of things going well, which once again…

Joyful Lucidity Towards the Absurd Is a life full of suffering still worth living? Louis C.K. and Albert Camus argue that this is the question facing all of humanity. “The whole world is just made of people who didn't kill themselves today,” Louis C.K. points out. In Louis C.K.'s comedy routine, Louis C.K. 2017, he ridicules the many painful things in life in order to argue that life is characterized by meaningless hardship. Albert Camus similarly views the human experience as such, and in…

deceleration. When Poe decelerates this tempo, it furthermore affects the story’s tranquility, portraying the narrator’s ascension into optimism. This is shown when the narrator exclaims, “I fell suddenly calm, and lay smiling at the glittering death, as a child at some rare bauble”(69). This description, compared to a child entranced, by an ornament, portrays the narrator’s optimism; the scintillating surface of the bauble is positive, enlightening, optimistic. By introducing vibrant diction…

Ask your partner the following questions: What is a positive attitude? To what extent do you have it? If you have a positive attitude, what actions might you display? How do you communicate it? What does a positive attitude “look” like to others? How do we differ in expressing our respective positive attitudes? How are we the same in expressing positivity? What is a negative attitude? If you have a negative attitude, what actions might you display? How does your communication look like? What…

of my patience and optimism was planted. It’s definitely not easy when you play on several different sports teams and your teams are constantly losing to “better” teams. Losing is already upsetting as it is, but when you decide to be a “negative Nancy” or “Debbie downer” in this situation, you not only make yourself feel bad, but also your teammates and everyone else around…

Mind Over Society Most people believe a successful person is one who graduates high school with outstanding grades, but the real question is, those that receive the excellent grades, how do they truly define success? Success of a person is defined as going for a higher education after high school and still managing to be delighted with what they have and what they are doing for the rest of their lives. It is an arduous process to achieve because it demands: self confidence, being the most…

To be continually optimistic, no matter the circumstances, isn’t exactly easy for everyone. To take a disheartening moment and bring out the light of the situation. Lawrence Oxley, 50, “Going on 80,” he says, from Greenville, Kentucky, is a person who manages to stay positive, no matter what. He is a man who would not trade the world for his family… he absolutely loves them. Despite limitations, he always works as hard as he can. Lawrence can turn any event or topic into a comical conversation.…

Optimism is important in realizing one's true potential, and it is important to have when times are tough and everything seems hopeless. Both Jenny from the short story “Circus in town” and Chris Gardener from The article “Happyness for Sale” experienced this. Jenny has hopes and dreams that cannot be financially met by her parents, and Chris went through homelessness with his young son where trying to live was a struggle in itself. Without the optimism both Jenny and Chris possess, they could…