Optimism

Bad days. We’ve all had them, and for many of us, it doesn’t take much to send a day spiraling into chaos before breakfast is even over.

According to a new survey, the average American knows their day is going to be bad by 8:36 a.m. Additionally, it’s not just a rare occurrence—four times a month, people expect the worst, adding up to an average of 48 bad days every year.

Mornings, it seems, are critical in setting the tone for the day. The survey highlights that common morning mishaps—such as waking up feeling sick (35%), suffering from poor sleep (31%), or starting the day with a headache (29%)—are among the top indicators of a bad day. Even seemingly minor inconveniences, like misplacing keys (26%) or leaving a phone at home (25%), can derail the entire day.

The impact of these morning disruptions is significant. Nearly half of those surveyed (48%) reported canceling plans or calling in sick after a challenging start to the day, opting to return to bed in hopes of salvaging what remains.

Possible Preaching Angle:
We have all been there, but a Christian doesn’t have to let pessimism or emotions rule their day. Beginning this new year, resolve instead, by faith, to put your day into God’s hands – “This is the day that the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it” (Psa. 118:24)

Hope springs eternal for sports bettors, as they typically expect to break even on future wagers even when they have consistently lost money in the past.

Now we know roughly how overconfident many gamblers are. A study by Stanford University researchers finds that the average online sportsbook customer expects a gain of 0.3 cent for every dollar wagered. In reality, sports bettors lose an average of 7.5 cents per dollar wagered, reflecting “widespread overoptimism about financial returns,” according to Matthew Brown lead author of the study.

The study also found that 20% of participants reported betting too much. To promote responsible gambling, online sportsbooks have rolled out features making it easy for users to track their results over time. But since most sports bettors are overly optimistic about their future betting, those measures likely won’t do much to curb problematic gambling,

Brown says. “Even when bettors know their past losses, they remained optimistic about the future, so that particular approach to consumer protection might not be enough,” he says.

Possible Preaching Angle:

As online gambling infiltrates society (and the church), there are more opportunities for temptation, people can hide their gambling addiction by not leaving their home. How many secret addicted gamblers are there in our churches?

For the past five years, one of the most searched terms on Google has been “hope.” It has outpaced searches for political upheavals, technological breakthroughs, and even the ever-popular “how to make money online.” If Google is the oracle of our collective consciousness, then we’re not just looking for the best oat milk latte near us—we’re looking for something deeper.

But what does it mean? Are people feeling more hopeful or are they…frantically grasping for it? The data doesn’t tell us whether we’re inspired or empty-handed, only that we’re looking….for meaning in a crisis-ridden age

The past few years haven’t exactly been a breeding ground for unbridled optimism. If anything, they’ve felt like a slow-motion apocalypse set to a TikTok soundtrack. Climate anxiety? Check. Economic uncertainty? Check. Social media-fueled existential dread? Triple check. And yet, through it all, people have consistently typed “hope” into a search bar like it was a lifeline.

Historically, searches for spiritual and existential concepts tend to spike in moments of crisis. In 2008, “prayer” surged during the financial collapse. In March 2020, “faith” trended as the world collectively realized we had no idea what we were doing. People look for meaning when the world stops making sense.

But the ongoing years-long trend of searching for hope suggests something different. This isn’t just a reaction to one specific disaster. It’s a constant, underlying hum of uncertainty—a long-term condition rather than a momentary outcry. Right now, the story seems more like…a desire for something bigger, steadier, and more trustworthy than the shifting realities of modern life.

There was a small town that had been selected to be the site of a hydroelectric plant. The plan was to set up a dam across the river which would result in the submerging of the small town. The announcement of the plan was made with ample time to give all the residents there the opportunity to get their affairs in order and relocate.

In the intervening months, something strange took place. House upkeep stopped. Community improvement ceased. Infrastructure, basic lawn care, all came to an end. The town looked abandoned long before any of the residents had moved away.

One resident explained the phenomenon in these terms: “Where there is no hope for the future, there is no power in the present.”

Possible Preaching Angle:

That is a life lesson worth remembering. Hope for tomorrow produces strength for today. We have living hope because of the resurrection of Christ (1 Pet. 1:3) and the unshakeable promises of God (Heb. 6:18-19).

The Grammy-award winning rock musician Lenny Kravitz was asked, “How do you stay positive?” Kravitz replied:

It’s a choice. I grew up around some very positive people, namely my grandfather. Being a Black man growing up at the beginning of the century and all he went through, he retained a positive outlook regardless of all the roadblocks and mountains in front of him. This man was the man of his family at 9 years of age—his father died and he had a mother who was bedridden and four siblings in the Bahamas on an island with zero electricity. He went out into the world and found work and took care of his family. So, he always taught me this way.

The word "manifest" has been named Cambridge Dictionary's word of the year for 2024, after celebrities such as pop star Dua Lipa and gymnast Simone Biles spoke of “manifesting” their success.

The term, which has gained traction on TikTok, was looked up almost 130,000 times on the Cambridge Dictionary website this year. Its use widened greatly across all types of media due to events in 2024, and it shows how the meanings of a word can change over time.

Formerly, “manifest” was used very differently. For example, Chaucer used the oldest sense of the verb manifest: "to show something clearly, through signs or actions." The verb is still used frequently in this way. For example, people can manifest their dissatisfaction, or symptoms of an illness can manifest themselves.

However, in 2024 the term "to manifest" has evolved to be used in the sense of "to imagine achieving something you want, in the belief that doing so will make it more likely to happen."

Dr. Sander van der Linden at Cambridge University, cautioned that the idea of manifesting success has no scientific validity.

Manifesting is what psychologists call “magical thinking” or the general illusion that specific mental rituals can change the world around us.

Manifesting gained tremendous popularity during the pandemic on TikTok with billions of views, including the popular 3-6-9 method which calls for writing down your wishes three times in the morning, six times in the afternoon and nine times before bed. This procedure promotes obsessive and compulsive behavior with no discernible benefits.

But can we really blame people for trying it, when prominent celebrities have been openly “manifesting” their success?

Manifesting wealth, love, and power can lead to unrealistic expectations and disappointment. Think of the dangerous idea that you can cure serious diseases simply by wishing them away.

However, it is crucial to understand the difference between the power of positive thinking involving effort and goal setting contrasted with moving reality with your mind. The former is healthy, whereas the latter is pseudoscience.

Possible Preaching Angle:

While wishing for something may be a natural human response, the Bible encourages a more proactive approach that combines faith, hope, and action. It emphasizes the importance of aligning our desires with God's will and taking steps to bring about positive change.

Psychologists John and Julie Schwartz Gottman write:

While every partnership is unique, with its own set of challenges, there’s one thing that all couples have in common: We want to be appreciated. To be acknowledged for our efforts. We want to be seen.

The No. 1 phrase in successful relationships: “Thank you.”

A thriving relationship requires an enthusiastic culture of appreciation, where we’re as good at noticing the things our partners are doing right as we are at noticing what they’re doing wrong. But it’s easy to fall into the trap of only seeing what your partner is not doing. You develop a narrative where you’re the one putting in all the effort, and you start to believe it’s true. Getting rid of this toxic mindset requires building a new one: scanning for the positives and saying “thank you.”

You probably say “thank you” all day long, almost without thinking, to your colleagues, to the bagger at the supermarket, or to the stranger who holds the door for you. But in our most intimate relationships, we can forget how important saying “thank you” really is.

For many couples we found that when one person started the cycle of appreciation, it became easy for the other to join in and strengthen it. Notice that they washed the breakfast dishes, answered phone calls, picked up the toys strewn all over the living room, and made you coffee when they went to make one for themselves.

Thank them for something routine that they’re doing right, even if it’s small, even if they do it every day—in fact, especially if it’s small and they do it every day! But don’t just say “Hey, thanks.” Tell them why that small thing is a big deal to you: “Thank you for making the coffee every morning. I love waking up to the smell of it and the sounds of you in the kitchen. It just makes me start the day off right.”

Possible Preaching Angle:

If saying “thank you” is crucial in human relationships, let’s remember how much more important it is to offer praise and gratitude to our Heavenly Father for all his grace and acts of kindness to us (Ps. 22:3; Ps. 100:4; 1 Pet. 2:9).

Admiral William H. McRaven writes about what he learned during Navy SEAL training that has helped him and could help anyone live a better life. Hope. He said:

Hope is the most powerful force in the universe. With hope you can inspire nations to greatness. With hope you can raise up the downtrodden. With hope you can ease the pain of unbearable loss. Sometimes all it takes is one person to make a difference.

We will all find ourselves neck dep in mud someday. That is the time to sing loudly, to smile broadly, to lift up those around you and give them hope that tomorrow will be a better day.

Possible Preaching Angle:

Hope truly is a powerful force and yet “living hope” goes beyond what is satisfying in life because it is based on the resurrection of Jesus. Our hope is living because Jesus is alive.

Author and blogger Chris Winfield shares his thoughts on gratitude:

“Why did this have to happen to me?” It didn’t matter if it was something big (my dog gets cancer, good friend dies) or something little (flight is delayed, spilled something on my shirt). I was in a constant state of “poor me.” This all started to change once I began writing a gratitude list every single day for the past 34+ months and it has changed my life profoundly. Here are the 4 most important things I’ve learned on my gratitude journey:

1. It’s Hard at First: My mentor told me to text him three things that I am grateful for every day. Sounds pretty easy right? Well, it wasn’t. When you’ve lived most of your life not focusing on gratitude, it’s not so simple to change that.

2. There Is Always Something to Be Grateful For: No matter what was going on in my life (business problems, I was sick, someone cut me off in traffic) there was always something that I could find to be grateful for (my health, my daughter’s smile, etc.).

3. Gratitude Grows the More You Use It: My gratitude lists started off very basic and I struggled to find things to be grateful for (especially on the really tough days). But once I consistently took action, it became easier and easier.

4. It Can Help Stop Negative Thought Patterns: According to the Laboratory of Neuro Imaging, the average person has about 70,000 thoughts each day! There’s one big problem with this — the vast majority of these thoughts are negative. Gratitude can work to stop these negative thought patterns by replacing it with something positive.

Robert Pattinson has experienced a great deal of career success. High profile roles like Edward in the Twilight series, Cedric Diggory in the Harry Potter series, and most recently Batman advanced his career. But these parts were interspersed with less acclaimed films. He has had good years and bad years. And in a world where culture is shifting on a daily basis, it is challenging to project what roles will be a success and what roles won't.

He knows that fame is fickle. And you are only as respected as your last role. Which makes your next role the most important. Sure, his career choices look wildly different from ours. But like you and I, a lot is left to the unknown, uncertain, and seeming to chance.

In a recent interview, Pattinson, opened up about career choices: “I don’t want to make a mistake on what to do next ... You just have to kind of think: Well, my plan is maybe a miracle will happen and everything will be fine. Which is what I think everyone has been thinking for two years." He then concludes in an uncertain voice, "Just … Uhh, I guess the plan is to just hope?”

Possible Preaching Point:

The believer’s plans are not left to an uncertain hope, but to a certain one. We serve a God who opens and closes doors according to his will, allowing us to plan on a guaranteed hope for the future (Heb. 11:1; 1 Pet. 1:3).

“Don’t worry, be happy,” is more than just a song lyric. A growing body of evidence supports an association between optimism and healthy aging. A new study has found that being more optimistic appears to promote emotional well-being.

Studies have increasingly supported the idea of optimism as a resource that may promote good health and longevity. An 11-year study measured the optimism and pessimism of 2,267 men and women over 52 as they aged and found that those who died from coronary heart disease were more pessimistic than average. A Harvard study looking at nearly 7,000 older adults counted the most optimistic people as having a 73% reduced risk of heart failure over the follow-up period.

One researcher said, “Stress is known to have a negative impact on our health. So, by looking at whether optimistic people handle day-to-day stressors differently, our findings add to how optimism may promote good health.”

Possible Preaching Angle:

God tells us that we will have negative, sometimes devastating, experiences in life (John 16:33). However, Scripture also promises that nothing can separate us from the love of God (Rom. 8:38), that trouble is not random but refines us spiritually (2 Cor. 7:10; 1 Pet. 1:7), and that the peace of God can guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus (Phil. 4:4).

In a recent Bloomberg Business article, Mark Ellwood confronts what he calls the "cult of positivity.” He titled his article “Trying to Stay Optimistic Is Doing More Harm Than Good.” The push to be upbeat in the workplace, as well as at home, has resulted in an experience he calls FONO. That's the fear of negative outlook:

You see it on Instagram, where the affective filter is always upbeat, usually followed by the hashtag #blessed. You might even recognize it in the boss who insists that colleagues start every Zoom meeting by sharing a piece of good news to help keep moods buoyant amid the gloom.

Think of this mindset as one that responds to all human anxiety with uncompromising optimism. It can be found in sentences that start with those negating words “At least,” which are followed by a suggestion that however bad you’re feeling, at least you’ve got plenty else that should offset it.

Ellwood explains the origin of this cult:

For the current generation, the origins of this emotional cure-all lie in the 1990s, when Martin Seligman, president of the American Psychological Association, suggested that pessimism is a learned behavior. Therefore, it both could and should be avoided.

That observation snowballed into bestsellers such as Rhonda Byrne’s, The Secret. It was popularized after Oprah Winfrey championed its ethos. That breakout bunkum bible was essentially built on claims that the power of positive thinking would provide whatever you want, be it a baby or a Mercedes-Benz.

Possible Preaching Angle:

The Bible alone is supremely honest and realistic. God tells us that we will have negative, sometimes devastating, experiences in life (John 16:33). However, Scripture also promises that nothing can separate us from the love of God (Rom. 8:38), that trouble refines us spiritually (2 Cor. 7:10; 1 Pet. 1:7), and that God works all things together for our good (Rom. 8:28).

After Abraham Walker’s older brother was shot and killed in a home invasion, he decided to move his family from New Orleans to Northern Virginia. He was drawn by the chance to give his boys a life in which they wouldn’t see the loss of friends and relatives as “normal.”

He describes himself as an “aggressive optimist” who looks for the good during the awful, and when he doesn’t see it, he tries to create it. It’s why when he clicked on a Facebook page for residents in a neighboring county, he read through the posts and then started typing: “What are some positive things that have happened to you because of COVID-19?”

In the days since, hundreds of people have responded, offering comments that tell of everything from simple appreciations to life-altering revelations:

I have been having the BEST time with my 4-year-old. I never thought of myself as a good mother, but this isolation has brought us so close together.

I successfully grew a tomato.

We have a swing set in our yard now.

Before COVID I just got up late, ran around in a panic, usually in a bad mood or at least sad, endured a road rage-filled commute, and arrived at the office late. ... Now I wake up and think, “Oh, I woke up again” and then I go out to my balcony amidst the pine trees and the chirping birds and rising sun.

Walker has also been thinking about some posts long after he read them:

I think a lot of people are going to be so traumatized by their old lives that they won’t go back. I hope some people don’t go back. That’s the beautiful thing about destruction. You used to have a life. The coronavirus destroyed that life. You now get to decide how you rebuild that life.

Walker says his brother’s death was a tragedy, but it pushed him to relocate to Northern Virginia, where his family has created a life, made friends, and connected with neighbors. He says, “Look at the afterward. History tells us there is always an afterward.”

Did you know that cats can’t taste the flavor of sweetness? That’s right. Felines cannot taste sweet. It’s like their tongues are color blind to sugar. No wonder cats are so grumpy all the time! They can taste sour, bitter, saltiness, and meatiness, but not sweetness.

Are you a cat? Maybe you should get a dog in your life. Maybe when dogs are barking at cats, they’re just trying to cheer them up! If you’re a dog, use your bark to cheer up a cat. And if you’re a cat who struggles to taste the sweetness of life, find a dog to be your friend. I know dogs can be really annoying but they’re good for your soul.

Possible Preaching Angles:

A humorous way to encourage people who are down.

If you look on the bright side, you just might live longer—much longer, according to some upbeat research. A study finds women who characterize themselves as having the highest levels of optimism live 15% longer than the least optimistic women and have a 50% greater chance of reaching age 85. The most optimistic men live 11% longer and are 70% more likely to reach 85. (The different results for men and women are not significant, the researchers say.)

One key seems to involve the body’s stress response. Studies have shown that chronic stress can lead to inflammation which can cause many diseases. Compared to pessimists, the most optimistic people say they sleep better and longer, are less likely to be sleepy during the day, and are 74% more likely to report no symptoms of insomnia.

Lead author Rosalba Hernandez, a professor at the University of Illinois, says: “Optimists are more likely to engage in active problem (solving) and to interpret stressful events in more positive ways.” People who are optimistic and goal-oriented agree strongly with statements like “I can find something positive, even in the worst situations.” Optimists experienced greater reductions in depression, anxiety, and panic disorders.

Possible Preaching Angles:

Faith; Sovereignty of God; Trust – Life is often troubled (John 16:33) and dark (Eph. 6:12) but our attitude is crucial. Christ followers are commanded to not worry (Philippians 4:6-7), or fear (Psalm 56:3), but to give thanks in everything (1 Thessalonians 5:18). This optimism comes from trusting our sovereign Heavenly Father who promises us that our future will be supremely better than our present (Eph. 2:6-7).

There are four qualities that distinguish highly grateful people from less grateful people. They experience gratitude:

(1) More intensely for a positive event

(2) More frequently throughout the day

(3) With greater density for any given benefit (i.e., they are grateful to more people for every positive event)

(4) They’re grateful for a wider span of benefits at any given time in their lives (e.g., for being included in an activity, or for succeeding on a test, or performing well in a game).

Therefore, one way you’ll know that your child and you are becoming more grateful … is that you’ll both start to noticeably embody these four qualities.

According to author Richard Beck’s book, gratitude is a simple practice. You don't need to dance in a Holy Ghost conga line to do this. One of my favorite studies about gratitude is the "Count Your Blessings" study conducted by the psychologist Bob Emmons. I remember singing the old gospel hymn "Count Your Blessings'' as a child. The admonition of the song seemed so simplistic and trite:

When upon life's billows you are tempest-tossed,

When you are discouraged, thinking all is lost,

Count your many blessings, name them one by one,

And it will surprise you what the Lord has done.

Count your blessings, name them one by one,

Count your blessings, see what God has done!

Count your blessings, name them one by one,

Count your many blessings, see what God has done.

Turns out those lyrics are cutting-edge science. In his "Count Your Blessings" study Emmons had participants do the simplest thing: At the end of each day take a moment to count your blessings by writing them down in a journal. And you know what happened? At the end of the study the participants who engaged in this simple practice of thanksgiving where healthier—emotionally and physically—than the control group. Simply counting your blessings made people healthier and happier. That's the cheapest therapy you're ever going to find.

Prayer, as a practice, is a constant posture of thankfulness. Prayer is the mindful discipline to act out of an experience of gift rather than scarcity. So count your blessings. Name them, one by one.

Author Christopher de Vinck writes:

Gratitude is the exclamation point after the narration of our lives. Whether we are grateful for big things (life, liberty, love) or grateful for the small things (the flight of the heron, chocolate, the scent of the sea), we are the only creatures on earth who can articulate a sense of appreciation with words … of thanks.

According to a joint study between the World Health Organization and Unicef, one in nine people in the world don’t have access to safe and clean drinking water. I shower every morning, and I wash my car and sprinkle my lawn with water that I can drink.

According to the U.N.’s Food and Agriculture Organization, one in nine people in the world go to bed hungry. I often can’t decide if I want an orange, a banana, a pear, an apple, or other fruit nestled in the bowl at the center of the kitchen table.

Elie Wiesel, the man who lost his family but not his faith during the Holocaust, wrote: “When a person doesn’t have gratitude, something is missing in his or her humanity.”

In Thornton Wilder’s 1938 play Our Town, the character named Emily, having been given one day to return to the world after her death, calls out:

Goodbye Grover’s Corners—Mama and Papa. Goodbye to clocks ticking—and my butternut tree! —and Mama’s sunflowers—and food and coffee—and new-ironed dresses and hot baths—and sleeping and waking up! Oh, earth, you’re too wonderful for anyone to realize you! Do any human beings ever realize life while they live it—every, every minute?

For his first Thanksgiving alone in 1985, Scott Macaulay was thinking that he would have to heat up a frozen turkey dinner and turn on a football game to stifle the silence in his apartment. With his parents recently divorced and “nobody talking to anybody,” he said, “I was looking at a pretty rotten Thanksgiving. And I absolutely hate to eat alone.”

Then Macaulay had an idea: What if he took out an ad in the paper and invited 12 strangers to join him for Thanksgiving dinner? It seemed like a manageable number to host at the First Baptist Church he attended—and, yeah, it was a little crazy, but it had to be better than being lonely.

Since those 12 strangers gathered around his table for turkey, stuffing, and pumpkin pie 33 years ago, Macaulay has made his free feast an annual event. Through the years, he has fed plenty of widows, widowers, homeless people, and college kids who can’t make it home.

One year an elderly woman paid $200 for an ambulance to drive her to the church from her nursing home. She arrived decked out in fancy clothes and said she hadn’t been out in seven years. She cried when dinner was over. Infants have spent their first Thanksgiving with Macaulay, and more than a few elderly people have sat down for their last.

Because Thanksgiving wouldn’t be Thanksgiving without giving thanks, Macaulay always asks people to write what they’re thankful for on a slip of paper and leave their thoughts in a basket. He saves the submissions and reads them throughout the year, long after the table has been cleared and the dishes washed.

“Sometimes, they’re grateful they no longer have cancer or that they finally found a job or have a place to live,” he said. “One year, a guy wrote that he was thankful his son was speaking to him again. That one was a tear-jerker.”

Geoff Shanklin, 65, lives alone and has attended every dinner since the tradition began. He said, “He really enjoys passing it on to lonely people in Melrose. For people like me with nowhere to go, Scott is family.”

Research has shown that practicing gratitude boosts the immune system, bolsters resilience to stress, lowers depression, increases feelings of energy, determination, and strength, and even helps you sleep better at night.

In fact, few things have been more repeatedly and empirically vetted than the connection between gratitude and overall happiness and well-being.

In a survey done by Kaplan, she found that while “more than 90% of people think gratitude makes you happier and gives you a more fulfilled life ... less than half regularly express gratitude.”