Optimism wins over pessimism every time. No matter what the
situation is, or what the problem is, optimism - a positive
attitude will be victorious.
Take the following case study :
Jon is a 39 year old doctor. He struggled very hard to become a
doctor, overcoming what seemed to be impossible odds. He was an
abused child, and he was also dyslexic. School was never easy for
Jon, and his home life was horrendous. But Jon got lucky. There was
a teacher in high school that took a real interest in Jon.
This teacher helped Jon get out of the abusive home, and continued
to spend as much time as possible with the young man. It didn't
take long for the teacher to discover that Jon was dyslexic. He got
Jon into a program through the school that helped him cope with the
dyslexia, and the program taught Jon a new way of learning.
Jon's grades improved dramatically, and he won some scholarships to
help pay for college, but it wasn't quite enough. He knew, without
a doubt, that he wanted to be a doctor so he got a part time job to help pay
for college, and by the time medical school rolled around, he was
eligible for multiple scholarships, grants, and student loans, all
of which paid for the rest of his education.
Bill is also a doctor. He led a fairly privileged life.His mother died when he was young, and his
father worked long hours. Bill coped with his mother's death fairly
well, but he often acted out to get his father's attention. Of
course, negative attitudes often attract negative attention, and
Bill's father was a busy man. He punished Bill for his bad
behavior, but didn't realize that Bill was acting out to get his
attention.
In spite of the fact that Bill often acted out, good grades came
very easily for him. But, Bill was often sarcastic and disrespectful to
teachers and students alike. He didn't have many friends, and any
teacher that tried to help Bill was quickly put in their place.
Not much changed during college.
Bill didn't need scholarships -
his father worked all those years to pay for Bill's college, and
Bill didn't need to work at any time while getting his education.
Bill's constant negativity and sarcasm prevented him from making
any friends, and the only thing his professor's remember him for is
his lack of interest in class participation, his sarcasm, and his
apparent ego problem that made it seem like Bill thought he was
somehow above it all.
Now, Bill and Jon are in the last year of their residency at the
same hospital. In this particular hospital, doctors are rotated
from floor to floor. On one floor there is a lady who has been
diagnosed with cancer, and is undergoing chemotherapy. She is an
inpatient due to various other health problems that she has that
prevent her from going home while she is undergoing chemotherapy.
On the day that Bill first saw her, he was sarcastic to the lady,
and made her feel like he didn't have time to be bothered with her.
But the first time that Jon saw her, he had her laughing, and
looking forward to his next visit. In fact, before he left for the
day, Jon stopped back in to see the dear lady - simply because he
enjoyed talking to her.
This went on for two weeks. One day she would see Jon, the next
day, she would see Bill. On the days that she saw Bill, she seemed
to be sicker from the chemotherapy. She seemed down, and she was
argumentative with the nursing staff. On the days that she saw Jon,
she didn't seem quite so ill from the treatments, she smiled and
laughed, and the nursing staff found her to be quite pleasant. All
of this was noted in her patient chart.
The supervising doctor noticed that one day the lady was up, and
the next day she was down by reading that chart - and he wondered
why. That particular day, Jon was on rounds on that lady's floor,
so the doctor accompanied him to observe. He observed Jon with all
of his patients, and didn't see any problems. He noted that the
days the lady in question saw Jon were the good days, and after
seeing how Jon talked to her and raised her spirits, he understood
why.
The next day, he accompanied Bill on his rounds, and observed him
with all of the patients. He didn't like what he saw, and when they
came to the lady's room, he fully understood why the lady had bad
days when she saw Bill. He went and looked at the charts of other
patients on that floor, and the other floors that both Bill and Jon
worked on, and noted that many other patients were showing the same
patterns of ups and downs, and there was a direct relation to which
resident doctor they were seeing on the up and down days.
It didn't take long for this supervisor to have Bill removed from
the residency program. Jon went on to finish the program, and had
job offers from all over the country - he had his pick of jobs, but
chose to work in a hospital that served underprivileged people,
even though the pay was barely enough to scrape by on.
Jon lived
out the rest of his days happily caring for people that were
grateful he was there. He achieved his lifelong dream of helping
people, the way that he had been helped. He also had a successful
marriage, and two children that adored him, and grew up to be
successful doctors, with successful relationships as well.
It took a while, but Bill eventually got into a different residency
program at a different hospital, but was quickly removed from that
program as well. He finally got into a program and finished it, but
the job offers weren't that great. He did eventually land a job
that paid well, but when his contract expired at that hospital, the
board decided not to renew it. He had problems finding another job
at another hospital, so he took out loans to open a private
practice.
The practice didn't do so well, and eventually, Bill had to file
bankruptcy and close the practice. He eventually got a job at a
very busy hospital that served a poor community. The pay was very
low, and there were several complaints about Bill's bedside manner,
but the hospital kept him on because attracting doctors to work for
the pay they could afford was extremely difficult.
Bill had three failed marriages, and at the end of his life, he was
fairly poor, alone, and the three kids from his three marriages
wouldn't have anything to do with him. When they were notified of
his death, they all agreed to have him cremated. They decided
against any kind of funeral service. None of them were interested
in keeping the ashes - and none of them shed a tear.
Optimism won. It always does.
See This Resource,to find more information on positive thinking .
