Becoming an Optimist

I woke up early, finished the reports I was supposed to submit during the day drove to the office and I was not late. Then, my boss hands me the memo and says that I am given until tomorrow to submit a written explanation. I mumble incoherently but feel crushed and almost in tears and angry at my boss. Belief I am not a good worker, I am always tardy and hence I have become a liability to my department. I do not have any place in this office anymore. I have no choice but to resign.

Consequence I am depressed and angry and hurt. Disputation I am not a bad worker, I have met deadlines, I have been innovative at my work and I give my best in every task I am assigned to. I have had high performance evaluation ratings for the last 4 years in this job. My reaction to the memo was overreacting; of course it is company policy to call the attention of employees who had been late for work a number of times to make sure that they can do something about it.

I was late a couple of times but that did not mean I am a lousy employee, even my boss comes to the office late at times. I had been working two jobs and going to school at the same time and it means that I am tired and exhausted thus if I wake up late in some mornings it is understandable because my body has to rest at some point. Thinking that I am a bad employee and that I have to resign is not really doing me anything good, instead of checking my behavior; I felt utterly depressed and had to miss work in the afternoon.
It does not do anything good to think these thoughts. Energization I decided that I can prove to myself that I can be punctual everyday, thus I have made a contract with myself saying that I will never be late for work anymore, starting today! Being optimistic is related to motivation because it gives that extra boost to the person who is faced with challenges and difficulties (Seligman, 1991). Optimism is a state of mind and heart, that is, to think positively about the outcome of the situation or event.
When a person thinks that a problem is a challenge, and then he/she would face it head on and believe that he/she can overcome it, if a person thinks that a problem is a punishment, then he/she would not do anything at all since he/she has already accepted defeat. References Kady, L. (2006). Being an optimist. Retrieved December 11, 2006, from http://www. articlejuice. com/Article/Being-an-Optimist—Part-1/200 Seligman, M. E. (1991). Learned Optimism. Alfred A. Knopf Inc.