The importance of optimism
by Family Councils Ontario
Optimism is defined as “hopefulness and confidence about the future or the success of something.”1 Optimism influences and impacts all aspects of your work and can help to keep your group on track during difficult times. As a Family Council member, optimism is an important attitude to cultivate and maintain.
Optimism does not mean ignoring the reality of a situation, or blindly believing in an outcome. What optimism does mean is believing in people and potential, until informed otherwise. When we act with an attitude of optimism, we believe that people want to do their best work and be their best selves, even in difficult situations. And when we maintain an attitude of optimism, we pursue the activities that will help us achieve our loftiest goals.
So, what does acting with optimism look like?
- Being bold and brave. Optimism means believing that as a team, your Council can achieve success and accomplish goals that will improve the lives of residents, families, staff, volunteers, and everyone else who steps foot in the long-term care home. Optimism leads us to be brave and pursue ambitious but achievable goals. Being optimistic helps us act with bravery and address issues and opportunities head-on.
- Focussing on what is working well. Optimism leads us to focus on the positive, without ignoring the negative. It helps us learn from what is working well and apply to it what needs improvement. It helps us stay focussed on possibility and potential. It helps us to create environments where creativity thrives, people work hard, and everyone is valued. Optimism helps us realize what mistakes can become lessons and how to do better.
- Believing in people. Long-term care is a complicated system wherein people are caring about, with and for others with complex health needs. It can be a wonderful but also challenging environment in which to live, work, and visit. But, the vast majority of people living, visiting, and working in long-term care are there for the right reasons. Optimism leads us to believe the best of people until we learn otherwise. It also means in believing in people and supporting them to achieve their greatest potential.
Optimism, of course, has its limits. Acting with optimism does not blind us to situations that need correction or improvement. It does not eliminate our need for urgent action on issues of resident care and safety. It does not mean that we refrain from taking action on concerns or recommendations in hope that they will be resolved without intervention. What optimism does mean is that when we undertake actions that may be difficult or we encounter roadblock we continue in our journey to achieve our goals. It means that when things get tough, we keep going. We keep going with optimism, grace, and strength. Optimism helps us not only when things are going well, but particularly when they are not. Optimism keeps us strong.
How does your Council cultivate optimism as a team? Share your thoughts with us on Facebook!
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