Years ago, I received a wonderful book For This One Hour, from my father.  It’s a first edition, published in 1969, and has separate sections for being Grateful, Cheerful, Optimistic, Unselfish, Forgiving, and Generous; for spending Time in Prayer, looking for the Best in Others, helping to Make Someone Happy, and living in the Present.

It’s a wonderful source of inspiration to me, and has been for many years.

Today, with so much negativity in the world, I thought I would share one of my favorite passages, the Creed for Optimists:  10 simple things we can all strive to do for ourselves and our world to make both better.

The Creed for Optimists 

1. Promise yourself to be so strong that nothing can disturb your peace of mind
2. Promise yourself to talk health, happiness and prosperity to every person you meet.
3. Promise yourself to make all your friends feel that there is something in them.
4. Promise yourself to look at the sunny side of everything and make your optimism come true.
5. Promise yourself to think only of the best, to work only for the best, and to expect only the best.
6. Promise yourself to be just as enthusiastic about the success of others as you are about your own.
7. Promise yourself to forget the mistakes of the past and to press on to the greater achievements of the future.
8. Promise yourself to wear a friendly countenance at all times and give every living creature you meet a smile.
9. Promise yourself to spend so much time improving yourself that you have no time left to criticize others.
10. Promise yourself to be too large for worry, too noble for anger, too strong for fear, and too happy to permit the presence of trouble

–Christian D. Larsen, from For This One Hour, compiled by William Arthur Ward, copyright 1969, Droke House publishers

Coast of North Carolina Copyright Barbara Mattio 2012