It is interesting that the world is celebrating an American icon in Mohammed Ali with his confidence and swagger. His boasts and bragging and back and forth with media and personalities that were highly respected showed a self value that was labeled as cocky when it was on display. His public stances on his beliefs were flash points with much of American value leaders, especially his conversion to the Muslim faith and his refusal to go to Vietnam, but he had the confidence to hold to them. Now he is revered as a genuine image in line with the American brand of authentic voice. Hauser writes a wonderful article that captures his place in American history.
It would have been hard to imagine that poor young black man from Louisville would have that kind of courage and self-assurance. What made him so confident? It would have been arguable that he talked himself up out of fear and insecurity, but his persona never seemed to break. He seemed strong, courageous and self assured throughout his life, even with his later struggles he didn't hide in the shadows.
In the modern positive psychology movement, Seligman (1991) explains the presence or absence of optimism, the absence being learned helplessness and the effect it has on the person's mindset and the choices that they make, which effects the results of his or her experience. If one has learned optimism, they will use an optimistic outlook to their situations, which will encourage them to try and persist, which creates a greater likelihood to succeed. If a person has learned helplessness, they will see challenges as insurmountable and normally decide to quit trying and fail. Seligman argues that these mindsets can be cultivated and offers some processes to apply to create a more optimistic mindset. One of them is to meditate on positive things.
For Christians, Jesus identifies hope as one of the major ideas he wants his disciples to remember and practice. As it so happens, positive psychology research agrees with that assessment. It would be argued that with the pressures and oppression that early Christians had, it would have been the focus on hope that allowed the disciples of Christ to endure. Goleman (2013) explains that its the things we pay attention to that determine our experiences, thoughts about those experiences, and the choices we make in response to those thoughts. That is why Phillipians 4:8 instructs us to think about what is good, noble, beautiful, and praiseworthy. It isn't religious flowery speech, it is a formula for better living.
