Optimism

When my lifelong friend and partner, Jay Van Andel, and I returned from service in the Army Air Corps in 1946, we believed there was nothing too big or uncertain for us to tackle. We started a flight school – even though neither one of us was a pilot. We started West Michigan’s first drive-in restaurant despite having no experience. We bought a sailboat and headed down the Atlantic coast toward the Caribbean, not letting the fact that we’d never sailed before stop us.

With that same optimism, we decided to start a little direct selling business called Amway from the basements of our neighboring homes in 1959 that since has grown beyond even our wildest dreams and is now known as Alticor.

One of the things I’m most thankful for is that I grew up in a nation with a grand tradition of optimism. When a whole culture adopts an upward look, incredible things can be accomplished. When the world is seen as a hopeful, positive place, people are empowered to attempt and to achieve.

Optimism and pessimism are both powerful forces, and each of us must choose which we want to shape our outlook and our expectations. If you expect something to turn out badly, it probably will. Pessimism is seldom disappointed. By the same token, if you expect good things to happen, they usually do!

From which perspective do you want to view life? Will we look down in despair or look up in hope? I believe in the upward look. If you have that flame of a dream down inside you somewhere, thank God for it, and do something about it. And don’t let anyone else blow it out.

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Rich DeVos is vice-chairman of Gospel Communications. He is also the author of "Hope From My Heart: Ten Lessons for Life," co-founder of Amway Corp., and owner and chairman of the NBA's Orlando Magic.