Ah! a bit cringy to me now, but history and valid. I was 21 *
Optimism Digest 13-JUN-1993
—————
Optimism: A doctrine that this world is the best possible world.
Optimism, the power of positive thinking, belief in the magic embedded in every human. It is a force that has been utilized by some of the world’s greatest philosophers and prophets, from Jesus to Ghandi to Ben Franklin to Norman Vincent Peale. Proper utilization of prayer, meditation, belief and faith DEPENDS on the inner strength, existing in everyone, to overcome problems that can absolutely cripple the pessimest… those negatively-focused by choice.
Every child born believes that the world is perfect as it stands, and that imperfections can be overcome by simply BELIEVING and ACTING. Nothing is impossible to the persistently positive. You always succeed in achieving an outcome, whether it is one you wish or not, and even those outcomes that aren’t necessarily desirable have tremendous educational value.
The Optimism Digest is a forum to discuss personal beliefs, the writings of Norman Vincent Peale and his ideas, the ideas presented in the Bible by Jesus Christ, presented by Muhammad in the Koran, by the reactions of Job (in the biblical texts of Judaism, Christianity and the Muslims) to tremendous difficulties, and by anyone who seems to magically “beat the odds” daily – you, me, and billions of other people all across the world, all throughout history.
—-
*
31 years ago, I was on a “positive thinking” kick, devouring all the old Norman Vincent Peale stuff hanging around, making the most of the idea.
At 21 in 1993, I’d already been online for 4 years and I liked gathering people together around topics to hash out ideas, so I did so with Optimism. I created a mailing list (similar to a Facebook Group today) and ran it for about two years, gathering a few hundred people and we talked about it over email. This was my ad/welcome message.
[responsivevoice_button voice="US English Male"]