Optimists Beware?!

I am a die hard optimist! And I've always considered that to be a benefit. Or I did... until today!

In Jim Collins' book Good to Great he shares about an interview he had with Admiral Jim Stockdale. He was a prisoner of war for eight years and during that time was tortured 20 times. When Jim asked him how he made it, he explained:

"I never lost faith in the end of the story," he said, when I asked him. "I never doubted not only that I would get out, but also that I would prevail in the end and turn the experience into the defining event of my life, which, in retrospect, I would not trade."

When Jim asked him, "Who didn't make it out?" He replied,

"Oh, that's easy," he said. "'The optimists.”

"The optimists? I don't understand," I said, now completely confused, given what he'd said a hundred meters earlier.

"The optimists. Oh, they were the ones who said, ‘We're going to be out by Christmas.' And Christmas would come, and Christmas would go. Then they'd say, ‘We’re going to be out by Easter.' And Easter would come, and Easter would go. And then "Thanksgiving, and then it would be Christmas again. And they died of a broken heart."

Another long pause, and more walking. Then he turned to me and said, "This is a very important lesson. You must never confuse faith that you will prevail in the end—which you can never afford to lose—with the discipline to confront the most brutal facts of your current reality, whatever they might be."


Can optimism really be a handicap?! According to Admiral Stockdale, yes!

When my Jim was sharing this with me today I recalled how Tom Yeakley shared in his new book The Character of a Leader there are four things that keep people from finishing strong: sin, distractions, getting tired and giving up.

And it dawned on me - when do I most feel like giving up? When the wind is knocked out of my sails. And when does that occur? When I'm broadsided by pain or trials or unexpected complications.

I tend to get excited about a lot of things, expecting the best case scenario... like with summer training programs. I love summer training programs! I grow so much through them! And I love getting to develop deeper relationships with people around me!

I forget that some of my deepest pain has come during stp's - that's been the source of the growth - and it's come through people. Put 100 people who, though holy and blameless in Christ, still battle indwelling sin, in close proximity for 2 months and you are bound to have issues!

But without fail, whenever the next stp comes along all I'm thinking of is the good stuff. Small wonder when the first conflict happens I'm flat on my face, totally deflated.

Today I realized that is the downside of my optimism. I do have faith that God will get me through! But I also need to take into account the facts - perhaps if I do I won't be so broadsided when hard times come - and instead of wanting to throw in the towel perhaps I'll be more prepared to embrace them and grow through them.

It looks like i now have a new discipline to learn: the discipline to confront the most brutal facts of my current reality, whatever they might be!

Jim Collins calls this The Stockdale Paradox - that you need both faith and facts.

I call it a revelation I'm still chewing on!