The Optimism of Sonic

Sonic Quick Navigation Links:
Character Breakdown: Sonic the Hedgehog
The Sonic Workout
The Skills of Sonic
The Optimism of Sonic

One thing is certain about Sonic the Hedgehogl; he’s a cocky, impulsive smartass.  Seriously though, his whole character is built around that concept.  But what comes from that kind of personality is also an unquenchable optimism.  Sonic knows he’s the fastest thing on two legs, and he acts like it, but he knows this from years of rising to the challenge, and running circles around his opponents.

Sonic has saved the day many, many times.  Quite often, the odds were stacked against him, with his foes possessing otherworldly powers, speed to rival his own, advanced weaponry, or even an army.  These are not easy circumstances to prevail in, but Sonic kept his cocksure, snappy personality throughout.

[important]Being cocky isn’t always the best, but being optimistically cocky is much better than not being optimistic at all.[/important]

What is optimism, and how can it affect our lives?

We’ve talked a bit before about self-fulfilling prophecies and dragging yourself down when we examined The Mind of Kratos.  In Judo, we have a phrase, “Keep your head over your butt, or your butt will go over your head.”  Where the head goes, the body follows.  Similarly, where your conscious mind goes, the rest of your mind follows.  If you constantly believe the worst of a situation, your mind is going to continue constructing scenarios that fit that view.

I’m not saying treat your life like everything is awesome all the time!

Sucky things happen sometimes.  Sometimes they happen in a very rapid sequence.  It’s not fun, and it never feels good.  But you need to realize that through this blog, and the skills you’re developing in your everyday life, you’re learning better and better how to deal and cope with things.  Take a look at developing the Confidence of Lara Croft.

When something bag happens, you need to accept that it happened, and then you need to move on.

Moving on is a subjective term.  It doesn’t mean forget the bad thing that happen.  It could be as simple as fixing the situation that’s causing you strife.  But there’s always the possibility the issue is out of your control, as well, in which case you need to let go of the idea of trying to change it, and instead see what sort of avenues the event or situation has set up for you.

Every moment of your life has come together to put you where you’re at right now, and you can’t change anything that’s already happened.

The only control you have is the here, and the now.  You choose how to react to something.  You choose what to do in response.  Personally?  I’d recommend putting on a smile, and realizing that you are strong, you can take whatever beasty stands in front of you right now, be it a giant robot Dr. Eggman, or a nightmare made real.  Run at your problems, not away from them, and realize that if things are bad, that just means there’s more room to move upwards again.

That’s it for our time with Sonic(for now).

I hope you enjoyed it, I sure did.  Tomorrow Jackie and I post our weekly progress report, and then Monday we’ve got a grab bag post.  Hope to see you soon!  Until then, make sure to like the Facebook page, follow me on Twitter, and go follow the Tumblr as well.  As always, keep being awesome!

Dan “DaRatmastah” Wallace