2024 SEPTEMBER– BENCH JEWELER “NEWSLETTER” 

Here are some fun facts about September:

• Birthstone: Sapphire is the birthstone for September and is said to symbolize truth, sincerity, faithfulness, and nobility.
• Birth signs: People born in September are either Virgos or Libras, depending on the day of the month. Virgos are said to be practical, loyal, and organized, while Libras are said to be balanced, social, and fair-minded.
• Name: The name September comes from the Roman word septem, which means seven.
• Holidays: International Literacy Day is celebrated on September 8th.
• Harvest month: In Old England, September was known as “Haervest-monath” (Harvest Month).
• Fullest moon: The Harvest Moon in September is often the fullest moon of the year.
• Fall: In North America, the first day of fall is usually on September 22 or 23.
• Songs: More songs with “September” in the title exist than in any other month.
• God of fire: The Romans believed that September was watched over by the god of fire.
• National Recovery Month: September is National Recovery Month in the United States.
• Ceres: September is named after the Roman goddess of the harvest, Ceres.

Things to Ponder…..  

• Create a scrapbook of your proud moments. It can be therapeutic but will also provide a collection to look back on and be inspired by.
• Set an intention for this month. Whether it’s a physical goal, commitment to a small daily act or a general shift in perspective, picture how you aspire to live and how you will achieve that.
• Watch a film with no distractions. Get fully immersed in the world of the film and be inspired by the creativity of the craftspeople behind it.

How To Make Decisions Like An Optimist

How To Make Decisions Like An Optimist

The next time you face a tough decision, here’s something to keep in mind. Pessimism influences our decisions more than optimism. That’s because pessimism – in the form of fear, insecurity, and doubt – often colors our perception of choices and leads us to make bad decisions.

But it doesn’t have to be that way. Incorporating optimism into our analysis of a problem allows us to more accurately assess it and make better decisions.

Here are a few simple ways to ensure your decisions are not skewed by a pessimistic outlook.

1. Assume success, not failure.

It’s easy to fall into the trap of thinking only about what might go wrong when you make a decision. You focus on what will happen if your decision fails and obsess over how that failure will feel. But that leads you to make decisions based on your perception of which option is the least painful, as opposed to which is the most rewarding.

Instead, envision the best possible outcome for each option.

If option A works out perfectly, what will happen? How will you feel about it? Will you get what you want? And if option B works out perfectly will it make you more or less happy than option A?

Examining choices through a prism of potential success in addition to failure presents a more balanced depiction of those options.

2. Look for reasons you can, not reasons you can’t.

With any decision you make, it’s easy to list the reasons you can’t make it. But it’s just as easy to list the reasons you can. You tend to give the reasons you can’t do something more influence when it comes to your final decision, which is dangerous.

Instead of dwelling on why a choice isn’t right for you, flip it around and ask, “Why NOT me?”

Why can’t I be the kind of person who makes that choice? Why can’t I be the one who takes the risk? Why can’t I be the one who succeeds?

The reasons you can’t choose something are only valid if you also take into account the reasons you can and recognize they’re just as valid.

3. Trust you won’t fall off a cliff.

Your inner pessimist implies a bad decision won’t just result in a minor fender-bender – it will send your life careening over a cliff and crashing down in a fiery blaze. But that’s not true.

Terrible choices rarely damage you as much as your pessimistic outlook predicts.

Counter your fear with optimism and remind yourself that even if you make a bad choice, you’ll be able to recognize it and correct course. The belief that even if you’re wrong you’ll still be OK can impact your decision-making process in powerful ways.

4. Believe in others.

It’s easy to become jaded and assume people can’t be trusted, that they’ll let you down or fail to deliver. But that’s pessimism – not reality. Rather than allow your decisions to be influenced by the handful of bad people you’ve encountered over the years, choose instead to be influenced by the wonderful people you’ve encountered.

Those wonderful people are the majority – even if at times it may not feel like it. An optimistic view of human nature serves you well when it comes to making decisions. Because more often than not, people rise or fall to the expectations you place on them.

If you expect the worst of them, you inevitably treat them as such and receive that same treatment in return. But if you give them the benefit of the doubt and make decisions based on that philosophy, more often than not it will work out in your favor.

At least that’s what I choose to believe, because I’m an optimist.

And that optimism is what made me decide to publish this post.