Rabbi Yaakov is trying to teach us that if…
Page 68. Rabbi Yaakov is trying to teach us that if we are aware that we are loved, whatever is in our best interest will happen. We can be optimistic. With that we can go back into the definition of optimism at the dictionary, gave us and understand it a bit deeper. Optimism is not that everything will work out the way I want it to. That is fantasy. Rather, optimism is an outlook on life that views the world as a positive place or ones personal situation as positive. Regardless of the circumstance, at the moment, life is positive. If God loves me, it is not possible that’s some thing that is happening to me is bad. I may not be able to perceive it as good, but I can be secure in the knowledge that, since it is coming from a benevolent God, it cannot be bad. Genuine optimism can only be found in a person who understands that there is a benevolent, infinite being.
— from The Relationship With Yourself (Traits/Reflection) · 7 Traits, How to Change Your World
In the book
Let me walk you through the few traits I most want you to build. Optimism. Not the fantasy that everything will go the way you want — that is just a setup for disappointment — but the deeper outlook that life itself is fundamentally positive. Golda Meir called pessimism a luxury a person can never allow, and she meant it precisely: pessimism leads to laziness, because a pessimist rarely bothers to try. — The Relationship With Yourself (Traits/Reflection)