All of us are born intelligent optimists. All of us!
You don’t believe me? Let me ask you this: Have you ever met a pessimistic 5-year-old? Did you ever see a child who fell to the ground, bloodied his knees and, after drying his tears, said he wasn’t going to run anymore?
Such children don’t exist. They get up, try again and keep smiling—even if sometimes through their tears. Each kid instinctively has the intelligence that getting past failure and continuing to try is a good, fulfilling and natural state.
So are you with me? Aren’t we all born intelligent optimists?
Intelligent optimism is a way of life. In fact, it is the way of life until we lose it. Many of us do. Somewhere, at some particular point in time, our disappointments and failures become too overwhelming, and we give up. Fear and insecurity arise, and we start surrendering to pessimism. Some will argue that it is wise to be realistic, and they see the optimist as unrealistic.
I argue that optimism—intelligent, not mindless, optimism—is the only realistic strategy for life. It is not going to prevent bad things from happening. On most days, more will go right than wrong; still, nobody can escape problems and setbacks. But the intelligent optimist accepts reality without immediately coming to a negative conclusion. From many incidents that initially seemed terrible, beautiful seeds have sprouted. We’ve all experienced times when something negative ultimately and unexpectedly led to something positive. Benjamin Zander, the conductor of the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra, quotes his father, who said, “There is no bad weather, only inappropriate clothing.”
I hear deep wisdom in those words. We would lead far happier lives if we were more resilient—like the kid with the bloody knees. What will the result be from something that happens today? What if, like Zander suggests, we were able to respond to life—whatever happens—with these words: “Great! What’s next?”
Such a response would be true to our initial state of intelligent optimism. It is a response that provides freedom from fear. It makes us wiser, happier and more satisfied. Healthier, even.
As we travel this road, as we share this way of life, we need to keep like-minded company. I’m traveling with you as much as you are traveling with me. And at the new Intelligent Optimist, we are very grateful for your company. We are looking forward to meeting you in our new live and online community of events and courses. Welcome! You are an intelligent optimist. You always have been.
Sincerely,
Jurriaan Kamp
Editor-in-Chief
Get you own copy – on us – of the first issue under our new name, The Intelligent Optimist.
I have just begun to explore your website and am enjoying it. Thanks for reminding us that optimism is the better/best place to be.
Dear Mr. Kamp,
I just found out about your magazine and website through Claire Mas, who contacted me, as she did with you, for an intervention in Geneva early next year. I will be happy to meet you there if we both can make it.
I take this opportunity to share with you and the readers of your blog some of our activities in Belgium which share the spirit of The Intelligent Optimist:
- “The League of Optimists” (http://www.liguedesoptimistes.be/home.php) and
- “Philo & Management” (http://www.philoma.org).
I’m proud to be “Optimister for the DICO at the League of Optimists, initiated by my good friend, Luc Simonet, a belgian surrealist
. DICO stands for “Development of Collective Intelligence” in French 
Besides these heavy responsibilities, the launch of PhiloMa’s new cycle seminars takes a good deal of my energy : for the next year we will adress questions about the relations between leadership and wisdom. “Leading with wisdom: are you sure that it makes sense?”… Our program, in English & French, can be found here (http://www.philosophie-management.com/docs/2012_2013_Leading_with_Wisdom/Leading_with_wisdom_prog_004.pdf). It is an invitation to reflect about the way we “lead” and to grow as a “wiser leader”. Optimism is adressed under the “art of promise”, a concept coined by historian of ideas Mark Strom who will be one of our speakers.
Hoping these initiatives will strengthen further your already solid “intelligent optimism”, I wish you a very good day.
Laurent Ledoux
ledoux.laurent@gmail.com
I just learned of this site today from a podcast I was listening to. Our world could use more optimistic thinking and hopeful action.