John R. Miles

And I remember the call she made to me right after she had gone to MD Anderson, just sobbing.

But once

She kind of went through the phases that you do when you get a diagnosis like that.

She was actually extremely optimistic because she always had this growth mindset and she that there were things that she could possibly do, whether it was changing her diet.

changing her mindset, exercising, putting herself in the best possible position to be one of the lucky ones who can get Whipple surgery and survive this for the long term.

It ended up not going that way.

But what was interesting to me, per your definition, was even a person like her in the worst

circumstances you could possibly imagine, was optimistic.

And she actually, after getting the diagnosis, went back to a master's program to get a degree in social work and actually fulfilled her

long term desire to help people because she thought given what she was going through, there were other people suffering and she would be a better therapist dealing with what she was dealing with.

So I'm bringing her up because I think it shows what you're talking about, that optimism doesn't have to equate with positivity.

Actually, if you look at my sister, Viktor Frankl or others,

they experienced optimism even during times of hardships.

And does your research show that this is true?

Before we continue, a quick note.

If today's conversation is making you rethink what optimism really means, I want to invite you to go deeper.

Throughout this Purpose by Design series, we've been exploring how we design meaning, belonging, resilience, and possibility into everyday life.

And that's exactly what I'm exploring each week on my substack, theignitedlife.net, through reflection tools, frameworks,

and workbooks designed to help you not just understand these ideas, but live them.

If you want to go deeper into building a more intentional, resilient, and ignited life, visit theignitedlife.net.