Toxic Optimism

Face the Hard Stuff

Living in the extremes is not healthy.
Getting too much sleep is unhealthy, just like not getting enough sleep is horribly unhealthy. Being overly negative is hurtful, and so is being overly positive. There is much to be said about the negative, but the same holds true for being toxically optimistic.

In Christian circles, there is a tendency to try and glaze over the painful and heartbreaking moments in life by reciting Christian platitudes.

If we look to the Bible for an explanation of why the world is the way it is, we will find loads of verses explaining the brokenness we see every day. One of these verses is John 16:33. It begins with, “In this world you will have trouble.” There’s no sidestepping the truth. “…You will have trouble.”

This statement alone has great value, but if we stop there, we miss out on an essential truth: “But take heart!” Other translations say, “Be of good cheer,” “Be filled with joy,” “Be undaunted,” and “Be courageous.” You might be thinking, “That’s great, Craig, but why?” If someone told me this, I would at least ask for something to hold onto.

Why should we have hope? Let’s look at the last part of John 16:33: “I have overcome the world.” We can have hope because Jesus has overcome the world. He has beaten all of the challenges we face.

Now, I am NOT suggesting that this solves all of our current struggles because it doesn’t. We will still endure pain, hardship, heartache, and the brokenness of this world, but one day, that will come to an end.

In the meantime, it is important that we acknowledge, process, and deal with our challenges the best that we can.

“We can’t tend our wounds well if we haven’t acknowledged their severity.” Debra Fileta

Verse for Reflection

“In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” John 16:33

Source

[1] Fileta, D. (2023). Reset. Harvest House Publishers.

Show Notes

Episode Description

In this episode, we discuss the chapter Toxic Optimism. This is part of a study inspired by Reset – Powerful Habits to Own Your Thoughts, Understand Your Feelings, and Change Your Life by Debra Fileta. We take concepts from the book each week and apply them to brain health.

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Transcript

0:00:03.800,0:00:13.280
The title of this episode is Toxic Optimism face
the hard stuff living in extremes is not healthy

0:00:13.280,0:00:21.920
not enough sleep or too much sleep being overly
negative or overly positive being overly negative

0:00:21.920,0:00:28.840
is hurtful and so is being overly positive there
is much to be said about the negative but the

0:00:28.840,0:00:35.360
same holds true for being toxically positive
in Christian circles there is this tendency to

0:00:35.360,0:00:44.040
try to glaze over the painful and heartbreaking
moments in life by reciting what I call Christian

0:00:44.040,0:00:52.000
platitudes this would be phrases like Time Heals
all wounds or everything happens for a reason

0:00:52.000,0:01:00.920
or others have gone through much worse Deborah F
says that toxic optimism is when we hide behind a

0:01:00.920,0:01:09.040
positive perspective instead of truly dealing with
the hard things it’s unhealthy to live in a state

0:01:09.040,0:01:15.680
of negative thinking likewise it’s unhealthy to
ruminate on all the horrible things in life it’s

0:01:15.680,0:01:22.800
also unhealthy to pretend that they don’t exist
it’s important that we allow ourselves to feel

0:01:22.800,0:01:29.000
the difficult emotions it’s important for us to
remember that God is with us on the mountaintops

0:01:29.000,0:01:37.400
and he is also o with us in The Valleys Psalms
34:18 of the NLT says the Lord is close to the

0:01:37.400,0:01:44.600
Brokenhearted he rescues those who are crushed
in spirit so what does the Bible say about why

0:01:44.600,0:01:52.680
the world is the way it is if we look to the Bible
for an explanation of why the world is as broken

0:01:52.680,0:02:00.680
as it is and as painful as it is we will find
loads of verses explaining the Brokenness we see

0:02:00.680,0:02:11.880
every day one of these verses is John 16:33 John
1633 Begins by saying in this world you will have

0:02:11.880,0:02:18.560
trouble there is no sidest stepping the truth
you will have trouble this statement alone has

0:02:18.560,0:02:26.600
great value but if we stop there we miss out on
an essential truth John 16:33 continues but take

0:02:26.600,0:02:35.960
heart other translations say be of good cheer be
filled with joy be undaunted and be courageous

0:02:35.960,0:02:43.160
you might be thinking that’s great Craig but why
if someone told me this I would at least ask for

0:02:43.160,0:02:50.120
something to hold on to so you may be asking why
should we have hope let’s look at the last part

0:02:50.120,0:02:59.200
of John 16:33 it says I have overcome the world
we can have hope because Jesus has overcome the

0:02:59.200,0:03:06.320
world he has beaten all of the challenges we face
now I am not trying to suggest that this solves

0:03:06.320,0:03:12.120
all of our current struggles or all our current
problems because it doesn’t we will still endure

0:03:12.120,0:03:19.120
pain hardship heartache and the Brokenness
of this world but one day that will come to

0:03:19.120,0:03:27.440
an end in the meantime it is important that we
acknowledge process and deal with our challenges

0:03:27.440,0:03:34.960
the best that we can Deborah says that we can’t
tend our wounds well if we haven’t acknowledged

0:03:34.960,0:03:44.640
their severity verse for reflection our verse
this week comes from John 16:33 it says in this

0:03:44.640,0:03:50.880
world you will have trouble but take heart
I have overcome the world if you like the

0:03:50.880,0:03:56.600
video please give us a thumbs up and be sure to
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Last updated on: 11/04/2024

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