Chilean Miner Rescue Nears Final Moments with Optimism

Oct. 13, 2010 - PRLog -- According to Dr. Russ Buss "Chilean Miner Optimism" has paid off.

Fourteen of the Chilean Miners have been extracted from 2,257 feet below ground.  Another 19 should be out in less than 24 hours.  The optimistic spirit embodied in this rescue effort paid really big and early dividends.

Dr. Russ Buss believes that many lessons of optimism can be learned from the "good news" disaster story of 33 Chilean miners found alive. He says that the rescue effort has provided a "real life" teaching clinic in the application of strategies of “skilled” optimism needed to deal with the original possibility of waiting until Christmas to be rescued from their "inner earth" cell.

The good news is, barring some unforeseen problem in the final steps of the rescue, the Chilean miners will not be waiting to hug their families until Christmas, Thanksgiving, or even Halloween.  They might all be out in less than another day!

According to Dr. Russ Buss there are at least six lessons of "skilled" optimism to be learned for this mining disaster.

Six Lessons of Optimism to be Learned from Miner’s Rescue

1.      Clear expectations.   Chilean Miner Optimism was well served by not giving a specific time line for extraction.   Optimism and motivation were sustained with a message that went something like this:  “It’s going to be awhile, but we need to take it a day at a time and do everything possible to bring about a successful rescue.”  

2.      Structure:  The miners were forced to organize into a structure to communicate with the people on the earth’s surface and to remove the rock debris that fell into their cavern during the rescue drilling.  Such organization and structure was likely quite helpful in heading off any chaotic moments of negative pessimistic thinking that could have spread throughout the 33.

3.      Family communication:  Advanced technology was used to provide audio and video communication with family, friends, and loved ones above ground, thus staving off the pessimism that comes of loneliness boredom and isolation.

4.      Getting through the day:  A small capsule was used to pass messages, food, pictures and other items that helped the miners get through each day.

5.      The Rescue Team Remembered – “these guys are resourceful.”  The trapped miners had already demonstrated their “Little Engine that Could” style of optimism by surviving 17 days and bulldozing a deep underground water trough.  Then the miners got the ultimate gift of optimism: the chance to be productive and to be able to take meaningful action on behalf of their own rescue. The miners were needed to form round-the-clock shifts to complete the task of clearing rock debris that fell into the miner’s cavern from the drilling of the rescue shaft.  Now, they were no longer “passing time” waiting for rescue, they were given a chance to play a part in the outcome of their destiny!!!

6.      As the miners were busy clearing rock debris, they become an active part of the solution and thus were given a valuable gift of optimism:  “The chance to help themselves.”

Let this rescue effort be a lesson in optimism for the ages!!!!

For lessons in skilled optimism check out the daily Moment-to-Moment Optimism Blog.  JUST CLICK ON: http://www.drrussbuss.com

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