The Optimist’s Creed is a whimsical saying that was printed in medieval-style art on every box of Mayflower Donuts from the 1930s to the 1970s.
This personal motto of founder Adolph Levitt read:
“As you ramble on through life, brother,
Whatever be your goal,
Keep your eye upon the doughnut,
And not upon the hole.”
The Doughnut or the Hole
Whether you see the doughnut, or the hole, tells a lot about how you view the world. An optimist believes good will prevail despite the craziness of social, political, or economic agendas. In fact, optimists, who are also believers, look to God when life takes unexpected turns, trusting He has the answers to turn things right side up again. We might say, optimists see the doughnut, preferably with chocolate sprinkles, because they see God’s hand at work in every situation.
Those who only see the hole, tend to miss out on the possibility that good can prevail. They don’t see any way for things to get better or for their odds to improve. They are anxious and weary, wondering what to do, but having no sense of direction. Every news report, every morning sunrise comes laden with despair. They think the view they hold, the one that imagines nothing is possible, nothing can change, nothing can be good, is realistic. They imagine there’s nothing left to do but jump into the hole, and so they miss the goodness all around them.
The doughnut represents the sweetness of life, the goodness that prevails, if we only choose to see it. When the world is falling apart around you, the last thing you want to do is jump into the mess. The best thing you can do is to renew your mind, think a new thought, look up and try to discover God’s hand at work. If you can put your trust back in God, you can embrace all that’s possible. After all, most of us are ready to see things in a new light. This little poem about the doughnut and the hole is a great reminder about how to get more of the good stuff of life.
So here’s the rest of the doughnut!
Research indicates that those who look at the world through an optimistic lens stay healthier, embrace others with respect and joy, and imagine a brighter future. They believe they have every reason to be hopeful and so they walk around obstacles until they find opportunities.
Winston Churchill said, “A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.” In order to see new possibilities, we have to be willing to renew our thoughts, step away from negative hearsay and social media bias and set a new course. We need to trust that better days are ahead.
Perhaps the biggest connection between your faith in the Creator, and your sense of optimism has to do with the hope you feel in your heart. Hope of Christ carries you into the future and gives you opportunities you never expected. In order to thrive on possibilities, you must trust that those things which are meant to be, will come together. For an optimist, hope is the doughnut, and there are lots of doughnuts.
You need a healthy dose of reality to get through life, but your reality can be transformed by your faith. You can trust that the One who provided the doughnut in the first place, meant for many sweet things to come your way. There are no holes in God’s plans.
adapted from my book, It’s Still Possible.