Spiritual Journey

My Spiritual Lens

Everyday problems arise in this world that cannot be under our control, so many people question this and wonder why this happens; well there is a reason for things happening how they do. Inside of everyone there is this force that is unexplainable but understandable, we are able to understand that things do happen for a reason and we have no control; now this fact of every person knowing is not all true. Sometimes people must go through many tribulations to learn about reasonism, which is what I have come to in this point of my life. Having the feeling of reason behind me makes me feel more secure about the future, it also may help that I am optimistic which may be a key player in this secure feeling. Through my trials and reasoning, I have come to the conclusion that I look at the world through my optimistic-reasoning lens.

I can look at a book and the situation and just know that whatever goes on in the story is happening because it was meant to and that even though the ending may not be a happy one it was for the best in the long run. In Elie Wiesel’s book Night it is all about the Holocaust, and that was clearly a bad situation. It is very hard for some people to even think about the situation that happened over in Germany and Austria, but the fact is that it happened, and we cannot go back in time and prevent it, we can now only learn from it. Learning from it is the optimistic part, and the knowing that it happened for a purpose is the reasoning part. The only reason I can give for the Holocaust happening is that it was made in Gods plan and I personally believe he has everything under his control. The Jewish religion may wonder why God would have chosen them to be the
ones persecuted for their religion but the truth is weather it be the Jews, the Catholics, or any other religion, the nation would still look at the Holocaust in disbelief that something like that could happen. Through that we have learned how not to treat other people and that individualism is important to everyone. The optimism that arose from this situation is the knowledge and respect for others.

In the story Jonathan Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach Jonathan goes through a series of up and down moments where one moment he is positive and optimistic and the next he is doubtful. After being kicked out of the flock he grew up in he tried to be optimistic and look for the positive, he now knew that he could do all the stunts he wanted and not have to worry about any other gulls bothering or teasing him. His thoughts were “What he had once hoped for the Flock, he now gained for himself alone; he learned to fly, and was not sorry for the price that he had paid. Jonathan Seagull discovered that boredom and fear and anger are the reasons that a gull’s life is so short, and with these gone from his thought, he lived a long fine life indeed”. (Bach page26). Jonathan’s perspective was once negative but then he got a good grip on life and realized that life is too short for negative feelings and I really feel that his feelings are a lot like mine. I think that if a person holds grudges or negative thoughts inside for long periods of time it can be damaging to your health and personality.

“When you have vision it affects your attitude. Your attitude is optimistic rather than pessimistic.” By: Charles R. Swindoll. (http://thinkexist.com/search/searchquotation.asp?search=optimistic). Everything I view gives me an impression of it; I either like it, don’t like it, or don’t care. I do believe everything was made to be good though, so that’s where the positive part takes a role in my life. When things give me a bad impression I know that there was a reason for doing it. “The positive thinker sees the invisible, feels the intangible, and achieves the impossible.” By: unknown. (http:// thinkexist.com/quotes/like/when_you_have_vision_it_affects_your_attitude/13030/). This quote brings out the best in thinking positive; it really tells how good the feeling is when you are a positive person. I believe I truly strive to be that person most of the time.

Since I am a positive person I think that I the world adapted this lens. If only people thought before they acted and reasoned the positive way the world could be a better place in my opinion. I believe my lens is a practical adjustment for people to make, from what I have noticed people really don’t think too much before they act. Thinking is reasoning so if people only reasoned when they thought, that would be a large improvement already.

You can look for optimistic-reasonism in everything. I enjoy looking for it in not just books but situations also. Being a positive person can improve many variances of things in your life, like your health, attitude, personality, and many other factors. My religion it Christianity and having faith is part of it, I look at reasoning the same way I look at having faith. If you can know how to feel that everything happens for a reason then you know how to have faith. The biggest influence behind my lens is God; he really has given me a lot of faith to know that things end up positive. God is basically the one who has shown me that being optimistic and knowing that everything happens for a reason and having faith has made me who I am today.














Crawford 5
Works Cited
Wiesel, Elie. Night. United States: Hill and Wang, 2006
Bach, Richard. Jonathan Livingston Seagull. New York, New York: Scribner, 2006

ThinkExist.com. 1999-2006.
http://thinkexist.com/search/searchquotation.asp?search=optimistic http://thinkexist.com/quotes/like/when_you_have_vision_it_affects_your_ attitude/13030/