Look for the Sunlight Through the Clouds

I have been reading lately the book Standing for Something, by President Gordon B. Hinckley. This morning as part of my scripture study, I read a chapter about optimism: "Optimism in the Face of Cynicism." This was a good one for me to read; I find myself easily falling into the trap of being overly critical. Here are several quotes from President Hinckley about the culture of cynicism and the value of optimism:

We live in an intriguing age, a curious age in many respects, an age in which the ability and power to communicate, and therefore to influence and persuade, reign supreme.

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We are constantly fed a steady and sour diet of pessimism, faultfinding, second-guessing, and evil speaking one of another. The pathetic fact is: Negativism sells.

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If we took such pundits seriously, we might think the whole nation and indeed the whole world was going down the drain.

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Criticism is the forerunner of divorce, the cultivator of rebellion, the catalyst that accelerates to failure.

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It will do us no good to be naive about the challenges we face in this country. We do have problems, and they are not few. There are issues that demand our earnest, inspired attention. But there is too much fruitless carping and criticism of America.

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I am asking that we look a liitle deeper for the good, that we still our voices of insult and sarcasm, that we more generously compliment and endorse virtue and effort.

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When I was a young man and was prone to speak critically, my wise father would say: "Cynics do not contribute, skeptics do not create, doubters do not achieve."

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We are creatures of our thinking. We can talk ourselves into defeat, or we can talk ourselves into victory.

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We all tend to worry about the future. And yes, there may be lean days ahead for many of us. There will doubtless be challenges of all varieties. No one can avoid them all. But we must not despair or give up. We must look for the sunlight through the clouds.

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We must not be ensnared by or lean on the words of those clever ones whose self-appointed mission is to demean that which is sacred, to emphasize human weakness rather than inspired strength, and to undermine faith.

We must walk with hope and faith. We must speak affirmatively and cultivate an attitude of confidence.

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With gratitude in our hearts, let us stop dwelling on the problems we have, other than in a spirit of contribution to solutions. Let us rather count our blessings and determine to do all we can to make this world a better place.

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Rather than making cutting remarks one to another, could we not cultivate the art of complimenting, of strengthening, of encouraging?

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To highlight the mistakes of a person and gloss over the greater good is to draw a caricature. Caricatures are amusing, but they are often ugly and dishonest. A man may have a wart on his cheek and still have a face of beauty and strength, but if the wart ins emphasized unduly in relation to his other features, the portrait is lacking in integrity.

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Criticism and pessimism destroy families, undermine institutions of all kinds, defeat nearly everyone, and spread a shroud gloom over entire nations. We must resist partaking of the spirit of our times. We need rather to look for the good all about us. There is so much that is sweet and decent and good upon which to build. Above and beyond the negative, the critical, the cynical, and the doubtful, we can and must learn to look to the positive and the affirmative.