I’m an optimist. The choice was easy, pessimists are way too depressing. As a child, I remember watching people spout gloom and doom, they predicted the sky’s falling and swore we were going to hell in a handbasket. I trembled in my shoes, cowered under my covers, and prayed the boogeyman wouldn’t creep from under my bed to carry me into the night. Each morning the sun arrived to banish the darkness, and a brilliant blue sky buoyed my hope.
Their predictions rarely came true, and I learned to dismiss their warnings. Perhaps I was precocious when I challenged the status quo, and dared to seek the silver lining. I looked for evidence to discredit their opinions. I imagined a wonderful future, filled with opportunities, and smooth sailing. Not that I don’t have negative thoughts or feel depressed, overwhelmed, and discouraged. As counter-intuitive as it may seem, recognizing negative thoughts, confronting them, and challenging their validity puts you on the path to optimism.
Life can be awful, scary, and uncertain. But the fact is, change is constant. There is a saying that everything comes to pass, but nothing comes to stay. So, I can focus on the negative, and drown in misery, or embrace the option of celebrating the rain, smelling the roses, and creating a bright future.
What excites you about tomorrow?
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Keep on writing.
Jo Hawk The Writer
Often the ideas I’m mulling over one day I’ll write about the next day when they’re ready to be written. That always gives me a reason to look forward to tomorrow.
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That is a compelling reason to look forward to a new day, Robert. I wish you a productive writing sessions. 👍
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Thank you, Jo! All the best to you 🙂
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Today is the tomorrow I worried about yesterday. I went to bed trying to think of something else.
This morning dawned brighter (psychologically speaking – or maybe it IS the sun that makes the difference…)
We WILL get these d***** electric gates working!
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🙂 Cathy that is the cyclical dilemma we face daily. Sunny days are a wonderful influence on our outlook. I hope your day is sunny, and you fix the gates. 👍
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You say pessimist, I say realist. I’d say we’ve clearly gone to hell in a hand basket, although, I contend, we were already there. 🙂
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And I contend that being a realist is a distinctly separate attribute from being either an optimist or a pessimist. A realist is able to see the world as is, without bias, in its unvarnished truth. An optimist chooses to be hopeful and confident about the future.
You know the old joke… The Pessimist says, “Everything is terrible! It can’t get any worse.” To which the Optimist replies, “Oh yes it can!”
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Reblogged this on The Reluctant Poet.
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Thank you for sharing. ✨😎✨
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