```json
{
    "title": "Monday Morning Greetings 2026 #35 – A Recovering Optimist",
    "url": "https://wavesofdevotion.com/2026/08/31/a-recovering-optimist/",
    "datePublished": "2026-08-31",
    "dateModified": "2026-08-30",
    "language": "en-US",
    "description": "“You are so optimistic that you could be falling out of the Empire State Building and, at the 50th floor, say, ‘So far, so good.’” Suhotra Swami once told me…",
    "author": "Dhanurdhara Swami",
    "publisher": "Waves of Devotion"
}
```

# Monday Morning Greetings 2026 #35 – A Recovering Optimist

“You are so optimistic that you could be falling out of the Empire State Building and, at the 50th floor, say, ‘So far, so good.’”

 

Suhotra Swami once told me this. He was a very dedicated and learned disciple of Śrīla Prabhupāda and a friend of mine. He was also a bit eccentric, with a great sense of humor. It may seem strange, but he once showed me a book of 101 insults and pointed out this one specifically for me.

 

I loved it.

 

Unfortunately, he passed away. But his joke has stayed with me because it captured something I recognized in myself: I am an optimist.

 

But I have come to see that optimism can have two very different sides.

 

One is psychological. It is simply a tendency to look at the bright side, to avoid dwelling on what is painful, and to believe that things will somehow work out. Like anything born of the modes of nature, this tendency has its strengths, but it also has its pitfalls.

 

The other kind of optimism is spiritual. It is not based on the conviction that life will become easier or that circumstances will improve. It is born of spiritual knowledge and realization. It is the optimism of faith — the conviction that God is present in everything and that His hand is working to bring us closer to Him.

 

I like how Śrīla Bhakti Rakṣaka Śrīdhara put it: “If you’re not an optimist, you’re an atheist.”

 

Shouldn’t we see God’s hand in everything, working to bring us closer to Him?

 

Richard Rohr, in his book

*Discovering the Enneagram*

, describes St. Francis as the patron saint of the redeemed optimists, which is personality type seven in the Enneagram.

[\[1\]](https://wp.me/p2zwwk-1o1#_edn1)

Growing up, he was known for his carousing, parties, and beautiful clothes. After his conversion, he realized that joy doesn’t require the continuous promise of something more, but that the same nature of positivity can arise from presence, gratitude, relationship with God, and surrender.

 

An optimist can also use his tendency to look at the bright side of things by seeing the good in others, allowing him to encourage and empower them. And when that optimism is redeemed, his

* joie de vivre*

on the spiritual side can become an inspiration to others.

 

But I have also experienced that anything born of the modes of nature, such as one’s psychology, has its pitfalls. Optimism can have many, but I’ll focus on one because it relates most directly to spiritual life — and because having a bit of this nature is something I’ve realized I must confront in myself.

 

The underlying psychological drive to avoid pain, which often characterizes the optimist, can lead to a form of

*escapism*

: a tendency to avoid confronting the things within oneself and in the world that one needs to face to grow and serve.

 

Everything is not OK.

 

Of course, a leader, a teacher, must make corrections in others to help them. In fact, the first thing Krishna says to Arjuna after he becomes his student is to find his fault.

 

“While speaking learned words, you are a fool because you are mourning for what is not worthy of grief. Those who are wise lament neither for the living nor the dead.”

*Gītā*

2.11

 

But more detrimental than not correcting others when needed is not seeing the fault in oneself.

 

I remember once while chanting, some mistakes I had made came up in my mind. Somehow, that day I had the clarity to see my mind desperately looking to

*escape*

my accountability by rationalization.

 

Fortunately, I had read something the previous day that checked my escape: the story of the wives of the

*brāhma*

*ṇ*

*as*

.

 

When the

*yajñic brāhma*

*ṇ*

*as*

realized how spiritually evolved their wives were by observing their wives’ faith in Krishna, and how foolish in contrast they were for neglecting Him, they lamented and repented.

 

I noted that the Sanskrit word for remorse in the word-for-word translation was

*tapa*

, which also means heat or austerity. I realized then that remorse (

*tapa*

) burns (

*tapa*

) the false ego.

 

Thinking like this, rather than avoiding the pain of a diminished false ego, I let acknowledgment of my fault and a sense of remorse burn the false ego.

 

It was so clear. Superficial joy is not always the best option.

 

Chanting this morning, I also noticed that if we allow chanting to cleanse the heart, we will have to see our true nature. And it is not pretty.

 

It’s hard to be optimistic when it is revealed how far we are from the goal.

 

The truth about our failings is painful. But that pain is also our first impetus for taking shelter of God and seeking His mercy.

 

So what, then, is there to be optimistic about?

 

It’s not that life will get better, nor that things will go the way we want, nor even that our circumstances will improve.

 

The deeper optimism is that whatever happens, God’s mercy is there. And if we are sincere, even the painful things can bring us closer to Him.

 

It struck an important message in the heart of this recovering optimist:

 

“Hope is not believing that life will go as we wish; it is believing that God’s mercy will never fail.”

*Author Unknown*

** **

** **

[\[1\]](https://wp.me/p2zwwk-1o1#_ednref1)

Richard Rohr didn’t specifically use the word optimist to describe Enneagram personality type seven. He described it as “the need to be happy”. But he did deem St. Francis the patron saint of personality type seven which is very much the description of an optimist.