southwick and charney (2012) noted, “optimism is the belief in a brighter future” (p. 25) and reviewed the literature that demonstrates that optimism is clearly correlated with resilience and post-traumatic growth.  given the christian hope in eternal life, we need not despair when life seems out of control. this hope should also provide context when facing traumatic life events.  when we are in christ, we can embrace optimism in adversity.
we will be working on a personal journal that evaluates the role of attitude, especially optimism, and the temptation to get discouraged when trauma or difficult times occur.

• find appropriate scripture that will support your writing.

• watch nick vujicic at a tedx conference discuss “overcoming hopelessness,” provided at the link below.

 <a href="https://grace.blackboard.com/bbcswebdav/pid-423751-dt-content-rid-15321972_1/xid-15321972_1" target="_blank">overcoming hopelessness</a>

• write a 1-page double spaced assignment addressing the following points:

• • how have you experienced optimism after a potentially difficult or traumatic event?
  • how has optimism (or discouragement) impacted your outlook?  what is the role of mood on your sense of resilience?
  • how would you seek to encourage someone who sought your advice following a traumatic event and he/she was feeling discouraged?
  • include appropriate scripture references that support your discussion.
  • please only share an example or examples that you are comfortable sharing for the purposes of providing perspective to our discussion.  do not share anything that is overly personal that you do not wish to engage with the facilitator.

support your work with scholarly academic resources, textbooks, or other sources provided.  use of apa format is required.