Social Gatheka Number 3

I should like to speak this afternoon on the subject of optimism and pessimism. Optimism represents the spontaneous flow of love. Also optimism represents trust in love. This shows that it is love trusting love which is optimism. Pessimism comes from disappointment from a bad impression which is there of some hindrance in the path. Optimism gives a hopeful attitude in life, while by pessimism one sees darkness in one's path. No doubt sometimes pessimism shows conscientiousness, cleverness also, and pessimism also shows experience. But in point of fact can we be conscientious enough if we only thought what difficulties one had before one in one's life. It is trust which solves the problem.

Very often the wise have seen that cleverness does not reach far, it goes so far and then it stands; for cleverness is knowledge which belongs to earth, and as to experience, what is man's experience, one is only proud of one's experience until one has seen how vast is the world. In every line of work and thought, there is no moment of experience that is not needed, but the further man takes the experience the more he sees how little he knows. The psychological effect of optimism is such that it helps to bring success. For it is by the optimistic spirit that God has created the world. Therefore optimism comes from God and pessimism is born out of the heart of man.

What little experience of life man has, he learns; this will not succeed, that will not go, this will not come right. For the one who is optimistic, if it does not come right in the end, it does not matter, he will take his chance. And what is life? Life is an opportunity, and to the optimistic person this opportunity is a promise, and for the pessimistic person this opportunity is lost. It is not that the Creator makes man lose it, but it is himself who fails to seize the opportunity. Many in this world prolong their illness by giving way to pessimistic thought. Mostly you will find that those who have suffered for many years from a certain illness, that illness becomes so real that its absence becomes unnatural.

They believe illness to be their nature, and its absence is something they know not, and in that way they keep in themselves that malady. Then there are pessimistic people who think misery is their part in life. They are born to be wretched, they cannot be anything else but unhappy. Heaven and earth is against them. They themselves are their misery, and pessimism belongs to them. Man's life depends upon what he concentrates upon. If man concentrates upon his misery, he must be miserable. If he has a certain habit which he does not approve, he thinks he is helpless before it, for it is his nature. Nothing is man's nature, except what he makes for himself.

As the whole nature is made by God; so the nature of each individual is made by himself. And as the Almighty has the power to change His nature, so the individual is capable of changing his nature if he only knew it. Among all the creature of this world, man has the most right to be optimistic, for man represents on earth God. God as Judge, as Creator and as Master of All His Creation. So is man Master of his life; master of his own affairs if he only knew it. A man with optimism will help another drowning in the sea of fear and disappointment; but on the contrary a pessimistic person if to him some one goes ill, or downhearted he will pull him down and make him sink to the depth with him. On the side of the one is Life, on the side of the other death.

One climbs to the top of the mountain the other descends to the depth of the earth. Is there any greater helper in sorrow or misfortune, when every situation in life seems dark than the spirit of optimism that knows that all will be right. Therefore it is no exaggeration if I say that the very spirit of God comes to man's rescue in the form of the optimistic spirit. Friends it does not matter how hard a situation in life may be, however great the difficulties they all can be surmounted; but what matters is if one's own pessimistic spirit is weighing one down low when already a person has come to low waters. Death is preferable to being weighed down in misery by a pessimistic spirit. Therefore the greatest reward there can be in the world is the spirit of optimism, and the greatest punishment that can be given to man for his worst sin is pessimism. Verily the one who is hopeful in life, he will succeed.