Are you an optimist?

What do you think is the one thing you need to be in complete control of in order to be optimistic?  

Please read the following two stories first before answering this question.

The travelers and the monk story (positive attitude, life outlook)

One day a traveller was walking along a road on his journey from one village to another. As he walked he noticed a monk tending the ground in the fields beside the road. The monk said "Good day" to the traveller, and the traveller nodded to the monk. The traveller then turned to the monk and said "Excuse me, do you mind if I ask you a question?".
"Not at all," replied the monk. "I am travelling from the village in the mountains to the village in the valley and I was wondering if you knew what it is like in the village in the valley?"
"Tell me," said the monk, "What was your experience of the village in the mountains?"
"Dreadful," replied the traveller, "to be honest I am glad to be away from there. I found the people most unwelcoming. When I first arrived I was greeted coldly. I was never made to feel part of the village no matter how hard I tried. The villagers keep very much to themselves, they don't take kindly to strangers. So tell me, what can I expect in the village in the valley?"
"I am sorry to tell you," said the monk, "but I think your experience will be much the same there".
The traveller hung his head despondently and walked on.

A while later another traveller was journeying down the same road and he also came upon the monk.
"I'm going to the village in the valley," said the second traveller, "Do you know what it is like?"
"I do," replied the monk "But first tell me - where have you come from?"

"I've come from the village in the mountains."
"And how was that?"
"It was a wonderful experience. I would have stayed if I could but I am committed to travelling on. I felt as though I was a member of the family in the village. The elders gave me much advice, the children laughed and joked with me and people were generally kind and generous. I am sad to have left there. It will always hold special memories for me. And what of the village in the valley?" he asked again.
"I think you will find it much the same" replied the monk, "Good day to you".
"Good day and thank you," the traveller replied, smiled, and journeyed on.

The shoes story (positive thinking, negative thinking, attitude, perspective, mindset)

You will perhaps have heard this very old story illustrating the difference between positive thinking and negative thinking:
Many years ago two salesmen were sent by a British shoe manufacturer to Africa to investigate and report back on market potential.
The first salesman reported back, "There is no potential here - nobody wears shoes."
The second salesman reported back, "There is massive potential here - nobody wears shoes."
This simple short story provides one of the best examples of how a single situation may be viewed in two quite different ways - negatively or positively.
We could explain this also in terms of seeing a situation's problems and disadvantages, instead of its opportunities and benefits.
When telling this story its impact is increased by using exactly the same form of words (e.g., "nobody wears shoes") in each salesman's report. This emphasises that two quite different interpretations are made of a single situation.

The Law of Attraction

Everything comes to us by the most elemental law of physics –LIKE ATTRACTS LIKE! This is called the Law of Attraction

You may not have realized it until now, but everything you experience in your life is invited, attracted and created by you. There are no exceptions. That may not be good news if your life is not going the way you want it to. And since most of us are not too happy with what we have created in our lives, we have become highly gifted masters at attracting an overabundance of circumstances that we would rather not have. The mind attracts whatever is familiar to itself. The frightened mind attracts frightening experiences. A confused mind attracts more confusion. The abundant mind attracts more abundance.

 You Are Always “Right”

 The primary function of the subconscious mind is to follow the instructions of the conscious mind. It does this by “proving” that whatever the conscious mind believes is true. In other words, the job of the subconscious mind is to prove the conscious mind is always “right.”
So, if you consciously believe that you can't be, do, or have something, the subconscious will create the circumstances and find the people to prove that you are “right.” The subconscious functions like the automatic pilot of an airplane. If the autopilot is set to go east, you can manually override the controls and go north. But as soon as you let go, the automatic pilot, which has been programmed to go east will control the plane, and you will fly east.
Your subconscious does not change the reality of the world around you. It just filters the information that you present to it in order to support your beliefs or the picture that you hold in your mind. For example; if you believe that business is bad, or that there are no new opportunities for your business, your subconscious will ignore new opportunities to improve your business. Instead, it will only point out Problems that support your belief that things are bad, or that there are no new opportunities.

Your subconscious cannot think for itself. It will draw to you only those things that are consistent with your deepest inner beliefs, nothing more, nothing less. If you do not know this as a truth, and do not realize that you create your reality out of your ideas, you will feel powerless to change your life for the better. Instead you will feel that you are the victim of people, circumstances and conditions.

Getting Rid of the secret satisfaction

 Look at your own life. Try to see the secret satisfaction that you get out of not being fully in charge of your life. What kind of secret satisfaction could there possibly be in feeling victimized? How could
anyone enjoy feeling weak, or poor or inadequate? The answer is in the payoff or pay value. For example, if you play the weak game, others will have to love you, take care of you and protect you. It is the ultimate way to get attention. If you play the game of being undecided all the time and let other people decide for you, then you are protected from blame if you make a mistake. In other words, if you keep both hands tied behind you, then you can expect someone to take care of you. In playing the
helpless routine, you are actually controlling others. The power of "powerless" people is remarkable. They are good at making others play the part that they have written for them.

Fact

Your unlimited power lies in your ability to control your thoughts. A confused mind works in the direction of sickness, poverty, lack and limitation rather than in the direction of abundance, health and success. It's your choice.

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