a neon sign, taping into counseling ideal of optimism and grit

Make life a verb!

/in , /by

Have you ever found yourself pondering the meaning of life? We wonder what life has in store for us, we ask why we are who we are and we pour over the bigger meaning. These thoughts lead us to treat life as a thing, a noun that exists outside of our personal selves. As I delve further into the power of optimism, it occurred to me that life, as a noun, is a limiting way to define our existence.

Choose Optimism

At the very core of optimism is a belief that our actions matter. Embracing an optimistic attitude and mindset means believing you can affect change in your life and no situation is permanent. However, if we see life as its own entity, then we are limiting the amount of influence our thoughts, emotions, and actions can have.

Achievement goes beyond our natural abilities and limitations

Do you believe life has its own plan and we are just passive observers? Are we born with the gifts or limitations that define us for our future? I flashback to a quote from Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002) when Dumbledore says, “It is not our abilities that show what we truly are. It is our choices.” It is important to remember that we can wake up on any morning and decide to take action towards achieving a goal. Do you want to run a marathon? Well, life, the noun, is not going to prepare you for that feat. Your belief that you can do it coupled with getting out of bed each morning, putting on your running shoes, eating healthy, and taking action will prepare you!

Only focusing on our natural abilities or limitations leads to a more pessimistic view. It implants the idea that life is what it is, and you are just along for the ride. I often hear this in clients when they say, “well, let’s see where this goes” or “I hope it will work out.” Both of these statements have taken the control from the client. Both examples display someone who sees life as a noun. They believe life has more control than they do on their own success. These clients often want more happiness, more success, more control in their life. However, they do not realize that their own passive thoughts and language constantly give away the very things they crave.

So, how do we embrace optimism through our actions and thoughts?

Many people think optimism is passive, but I do not treat it this way. Optimistic mindsets can move beyond merely hoping and can allow us to make life into a verb. Recognizing what we want to achieve and, believing that we can achieve it, sets the foundation for living life as a verb. Believe you can affect change, believe you can grow through purposeful practice, and believe setbacks are merely teaching moments towards your ultimate goal. This belief in your abilities allows you to take action steps to ensure success. Optimism allows you to take healthy risks towards your goals, but is up to you, not optimism and not life, to actually take those steps.

a neon sign stating, do something great

The examples below identify a few healthy risks we take in our lives:

  • The person who leaves a safe, full-time job to open his or her own business
  • Someone who starts counseling for the first time, allowing themselves to be vulnerable in order to achieve their defined therapy goals
  • The person who moves halfway around the world, or to the next state, to pursue an opportunity
  • An athlete who is willing to take the winning shot, to take on a challenge, or to fail and keep competing.
  • The student who takes more challenging classes to prepare themselves beyond his or her current abilities.

The people in these examples all share a belief that they can work through a tough moment. In addition, they believe setback and tough moments are temporary, not permanent. They have taken action to pursue something they believe in, and in turn they believe in themselves to achieve success. It is not always easy, but they have faith and hope, which allows them to conquer the unknown. Only though this process can we build true confidence in ourselves. This becomes a habit, where we meet challenges head-on because we have found success in prior challenges. Along with confidence, we also develop important skills like resilience and grit.

Live a life of Action

Living life as a verb allows us to grow and to achieve. It allows us to define our hopes and dreams and the courage to take the needed steps forward to make them a reality. Life is not in control of your ultimate success, but your choices are. Choose to live a life of action today!