Optimist Or Pessimist? … Hello Hump Day readers. Here’s a question for you: Do you see yourself as an optimist or a pessimist? I’m not talking about those tough days where pessimist glides right in—we’ve all incurred that. The question again is: Are you more an optimist or a pessimist? Here’s a true story by a well-known psychologist, Martin Segilman, who works at the University of Pennsylvania.

MetLife insurance contacted Segilman because they were ready to hire a special group of job applicants. This group had failed a normal aptitude test, but tested high on optimism. Segilman advised the MetLife insurance company to hire them anyway even though they had failed a normal aptitude test. MetLife decided to take Segilman’s idea as they knew he was world-renown with this type of psychology.

So, the company participated and observed these workers over time. Here is what is so interesting: “They were shocked, then, to observe that compared with salesmen who passed the aptitude test but scored high in pessimism, this group made 21% more sales in their first year and 57% more in their second!”

Obviously, they wanted to know how this could happen. Segilman smiled and then said: “Let me explain this phenomenon for you. A pessimist is likely to interpret rejection as meaning, saying: “I’m a failure; I’ll never make a sale.” But when optimists fail, they tell themselves, “I’m using the wrong approach,” or, “That customer was in a bad mood.” By blaming failure on the situation and not on themselves, optimists are motivated to make that next call and experience success. And believe it or not, Segilman says this happens with optimistic people who find success well over 85 percent—now that’s something we all need!

Did you know that us—those who say they are Christians, we’re also called to be optimists. When we give things our best, and yet they don’t go our way, instead of “oh whoa on me” we can safely say that it wasn’t God’s will for this time and we know that God has something better planned for us.

So instead of expecting the worst, keep your head up and press on, knowing that God’s plan is perfect and God will always show you his favor!

In Philippians 3:14-15 from The Passion Translation, the Apostle Paul shares about the differences between optimists and pessimists, saying: I run straight for the divine invitation of reaching the heavenly goad and gaining the victory-prize through the anointing of Jesus. I am sprinting toward the only goal that counts: to cross the line, to win the prize, and to hear God’s call to resurrection life found exclusively in Jesus the Anointed. So let all who are fully mature have this same passion, and if anyone is not yet gripped by these desires, God will reveal it to them.”

Take some time for yourself and be real. Ask yourself if you are living with a heavenly perspective or one of those “downer days” that often put you in a pessimistic mood. Don’t wait. Instead, ask God to help you see his favor in every situation in your life—even when it doesn’t go your way! How should we be living with a heavenly perspective when life seems mean? Give the setbacks to God and let him help you. That is when optimism is the joy of living! AMEN.