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"Optimism" - Leann Stickel
"Optimism is leaning into hope." As was true for much of this conversation, there is something so simple, eloquent, and logical about that quote. Leann believes her "super power" is being genetically optimistic. She was diagnosed with Relapsing Remitting Multiple Sclerosis at the age of 29, with 4 kids, and a lot of fear about what her life was going to become. But after some sadness and mourning, that super power kicked in and she decided to lean into hope. Today, Leann is a life coach for others dealing with chronic illnesses/difficulties in life and she started a non-profit, Tri 2 Beat MS Kids' Triathlon (which has raised over $100K in 8 years).
I was really excited to talk to Leann, partially because of my own experience with my wife having MS, but also because she seems like the perfect person to test how effective optimism really is as a value. She has thought deeply about it, she is trying to teach it to other people, she has seen it be severely tested in her own life--and she is confident it is the best approach to take. So we spent much of the discussion understanding why Leann felt so passionate about optimism, how she makes it real in her life, and of course the potential risks or challenges to being so optimistic.
We spent a good bit of time early on talking about the power of "affirmations." I thought this was particularly interesting because that word has become some popular and kind of bastardized in society today. However, Leann had a very pragmatic and logical view on affirmations that really resonated with me. The idea that everything we believe or tell ourselves is an affirmation, it is just a matter if we want to choose negative affirmations (I'm not a runner, I'm not smart enough to get into that program, I can't do anything to help people with MS, etc.) or positive ones (e.g., I can be a runner and I am going to start today, I can study and put in the time to get better, I can start volunteering today to help others, etc.). This type of "logical optimism" is something I found really compelling.
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By Terry McMullen
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"Optimism is leaning into hope." As was true for much of this conversation, there is something so simple, eloquent, and logical about that quote. Leann believes her "super power" is being genetically optimistic. She was diagnosed with Relapsing Remitting Multiple Sclerosis at the age of 29, with 4 kids, and a lot of fear about what her life was going to become. But after some sadness and mourning, that super power kicked in and she decided to lean into hope. Today, Leann is a life coach for others dealing with chronic illnesses/difficulties in life and she started a non-profit, Tri 2 Beat MS Kids' Triathlon (which has raised over $100K in 8 years).
I was really excited to talk to Leann, partially because of my own experience with my wife having MS, but also because she seems like the perfect person to test how effective optimism really is as a value. She has thought deeply about it, she is trying to teach it to other people, she has seen it be severely tested in her own life--and she is confident it is the best approach to take. So we spent much of the discussion understanding why Leann felt so passionate about optimism, how she makes it real in her life, and of course the potential risks or challenges to being so optimistic.
We spent a good bit of time early on talking about the power of "affirmations." I thought this was particularly interesting because that word has become some popular and kind of bastardized in society today. However, Leann had a very pragmatic and logical view on affirmations that really resonated with me. The idea that everything we believe or tell ourselves is an affirmation, it is just a matter if we want to choose negative affirmations (I'm not a runner, I'm not smart enough to get into that program, I can't do anything to help people with MS, etc.) or positive ones (e.g., I can be a runner and I am going to start today, I can study and put in the time to get better, I can start volunteering today to help others, etc.). This type of "logical optimism" is something I found really compelling.