Tim Tebow and Optimism of the Underdog

Jan. 10, 2012 - PRLog -- In America, we love the underdog.  And when the underdog succeeds, overcomes the challenge, and prevails in the heated battle we cheer loudly.  Clearly when we root for the underdog we are champions of optimism.  Optimism grounded in the belief that no matter what the circumstances we believe we can find a way to overcome the challenge.

Tim Tebow is just such an optimist.  Even though he won a College National Championship and the Heisman Trophy at the University of Florida, his quarterback skills have been much  maligned: too big, too heavy, can’t pass, too predictable, and on and on.  Nevertheless, he has become the starting quarterback for an NFL playoff team that won an unexpected overtime victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers.  He passed for 316 yards and ran for one touchdown.  The game, an NFL Wild Card Game, was reported to have had the highest number of viewers in NFL playoff history.

Everybody came out to see if the underdog could succeed. While the optimists had a lot of hope they also knew that Tebow has the ingredients for optimistic belief: an incredible work ethic, always displays an upbeat and can-do attitude, and is not afraid to stand up and shout out his Christian faith.  Tebow clearly demonstrates my contention that psychology is not enough, and their must be a strong and steady spiritual component in order to live and remain in the 90% optimism zone.

Perhaps the pessimists came out in droves too to see if their negative predictions would prove true.  But my hunch is that the pessimist wouldn’t put forth such effort, and instead would wait for the final outcome and if Tebow lost would say: “I told you so.”

The press and others have made much of the number 316, because that is the number of yards he passed for resulting in 31.6ards per completion.  John 3:16 which is Tebow’s favorite and says:

   For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.

So Tebow not only offers us the optimism of overcoming though hard work and disciplined action, but also the optimism of the “Good News” that Jesus died for our sins so that we can begin again anew, be reborn in spirit in each and very moment for an eternity.  Remember -

   Optimism is the view that allows us to believe that the problem is not only solvable, but gives us the courage to take the risk to solve it, the calling-up of untold and sometimes unrealized resources to find a solution, and the energy to persist through every step of the problem solving process until the goal has been achieved.

Tebow’s optimism not only gave him the belief that he could “beat-the-odds,” but he infected his team mates, the Bronco fans, his personal fans, and tens of thousands of “twitter” followers with a new found inspiration, meaning for life, and even belief that they too can begin again and experience the optimistic redemptive power of Christ.

http://www.optimismnow.com

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