Say not the struggle naught availeth,  The labour and the  wounds are vain, The enemy faints not, nor faileth, And as things have been they remain
-- Arthur Hugh Clough

There are those people who can see through the present troubles to the harvest of innovation ahead. There are those people who have not bowed to cynicism and continue to look for good people to work with. There are those people who actually are thankful for what has happened because the misdeeds of dishonesty and self-interest are being exposed and purged. There are those people who are not afraid to deal with real life because they, too, know how it feels. There are also those people who realize that, when the material world is shaking, it opens the door to discussing what really matters most to people. These people I'm describing always guide with hope because they understand that everyone needs and wants it--even if very few know where to turn for it.

What we need right now are people like these ... people I call "opti-mystics."

I am not talking about people who sputter motivational clichés and horoscopic incantations. Nor am I talking about people who are simply trying to stay positive.

I am talking about people of purpose--those individuals who know that they are living out a calling and who relish every conversation in any circumstance because it allows them the opportunity to exercise their gifts. I am talking about the rare type of person who understands that the source of a great life starts with attitude and spirit--something that is still squarely within our locus of control when other things aren't. While the material world may be crumbling around these individuals, it does not change who they are or why they are. Their raison d'etre trumps every doomsday prediction that might otherwise stop them from trying.

What Is In You?
What we discover in times like this is what is inside us. Troubled times are like boiling water. We are like tea bags. To borrow a phrase from Gatorade, "What is in you?"

Now is the time to discover and decide if, in fact, you are an opti-mystic. I will describe the character of one and leave it to you to decide.

Opti-mystics are first and foremost resourceful.

Resourceful people make the absolute most of what they are given. While others around them are complaining about what little they have been given, or about how much they have lost, the resourceful soul is already plotting how to multiply what they already have.

Opti-mystics believe that right makes might.

In troubled times, such people ensure we are on the side of sound principles and philosophy. There is a right way and a wrong way of doing everything. The confusion comes when the wrong way starts sounding suspiciously similar to the right way--minus the lynchpins of moral grounding.

What is the right way to respond to recent developments? What went wrong? How do we ensure that the people we work with from this point forward are on the right side of discretion and prudence? These are questions that an opti-mystic is willing to confront and discuss with clients.

Opti-mystics understand that attitude makes a life, not vice versa.

Our circumstances are formed by the disposition we choose toward them. Viktor Frankl wrote in The Doctor and the Soul that in life we have a position (how and where we came to be), a destiny (what has happened) and a disposition (how we choose to respond to the first two things). It is the position he takes that ultimately defines an individual's life.

Ask a cynic why he is a cynic and he will tell you it is because of his position and destiny, what happened and why it happened.

The cynic blames the course of his life for his attitude toward it. He has chosen the worst possible disposition--to give up on the possibilities--because his garden did not come up all roses. The all-important point the cynic misses is that his disposition has deepened his unwanted position and entrenched him in a destiny he loathes.

The opti-mystic recognizes that yesterday is irreversible and tomorrow hinges on our attitude today.

Opti-mystics are filled with joie de vivre.

Have you ever gone through a very difficult period and admitted to yourself afterward it was good for you? Do you admit that the struggles made you who you are? If you answered "yes" to these questions, you may be an opti-mystic because this is how opti-mystics live-waking up and embracing whatever life throws at them with the realization that the challenge is what defines them as humans. Instead of dreading the challenge, they are imbued with a joyful competitive spirit that says, "Bring me dung and I'll produce methane fuel."

The joy of life is knowing that you have purpose and that this purpose extends into the lives of many others who depend on you for inspiration, guidance and hope. You'll have more opportunity to show this inner strength and meaning in difficult times than when the tide rides high.

If you are an opti-mystic, you have already embraced this opportunity. You are energized by the challenge and are reaching out to people with a reinvigorated sense of compassion and guidance. This is your time.

The Opti-Mystic's Oath
I will act as a conduit of hope and encouragement to all I meet.
I will intentionally displace fear and loathing with hope and resourcefulness.
I will look trouble in the eye and devise a plan to survive and a plan to thrive.
I will innovate and create tomorrow's answers today.
I will bring the full force of my principles and personality to every client conversation.
I will live with purpose, pursue things with passion and reflect with gratitude each day.
I am immensely grateful for this opportunity to prove what is in me.

To close, I will share a thought that helps me fuel the fires of my own opti-mysticism when I am tempted to wither, bow or sink into pools of self-pity. Viktor Frankl, who suffered greatly at the hands of the Nazis, taught that in the most difficult of times it is our attitude that brings mending to our life because others are watching and seeing an example of how life should be lived.