Earlier this week I talked about The Case for Optimism.  Here are five ways to pump optimism into your life stream:

1. Inspire Everyone You Touch.

Inspiration-out has a direct relationship to inspiration-in.  Can you imagine the high Nelson Mandela was on when after 27 years in jail he liberated his people from apartheid?  Nelson!  Nelson!  Nelson!

2. Think Again.

If you think you know everything, you’ll miss out on life.  Rekindle your curiosity, and take the long way home like a Hemingway character.  You may discover something.

3. Start Something New Every Month of Your Life.

I took up blogging in my ripe middle-age.  It’s been like rocket fuel.  What I’ve learned from my global audience has been invigorating.

4. Kid-Test Yourself.

What would your five-year-old self think about your life today?  Let your heart not your head decide what you’re doing this weekend and you’ll have a good one.

5. Do What You Love, Forever.

Bill Shankly summed up career choice when he said: “Football’s not a matter of life and death, it’s much more important than that”.

KR