I’m an optimist, and I’ll tell you why…

[Moonraker5]

Two song titles perfectly sum up life:

"It'll End In Tears"
"Birth School Work Death"

That's a fact, folks. Accept it.

One can be as optimistic as one wants to be. Bottom line is it's better to realize what existence during this time on this planet really is. It ain't no crystal staircase that leads to bliss. It's an Otis elevator that takes us to the deepest levels of hell.

And believe it or not, I'm a happy go lucky guy. Always smiling, always cheerful. And that's because I understand and accept what life really is:
Birth, school, work, death.
It'll end in tears.

 

[dougstrum]

Negativity never did me any good. Figure I'm an optimist, tomorrow might be some fun

 

[Toto'sDad]

If you look out on the freeway, it never runs out of cars, and trucks. Sometimes you're out there on the road, and sometimes you're just watching the traffic go by. People are whatever they believe and want everyone to believe what they do. Fact of life right there.

 

[boneyguy]

 

[markal]

All I can be is honest here and say that I am not an optimist. While I have been very fortunate in life, and I am grateful for that and try not to squander my good fortune, my general outlook is gloomier each day. I do what I can. I am somewhat hopeful, which is different, but not generally optimistic.

 

[1955]

I’m still very optimistic, but in the last couple of years, I’ve had to narrow it down. I know who and what I can count on.

 

[bizarre1]

I am fan of testing different new things. One of them in solar energy and how it will work in my region. I decided to check info about solar tax credit 2022 Solar system isn't only about buying solar panels. It comprises a range of auxiliary equipment and services, which should be taken into account when calculating the total solar system cost

 

[That Cal Webway]

I always see the cup as half full.

...but it is a paper cup, and slowly disintegrating.

 

[koen]

The diabetes/cardiac issues presented me with the challenge to own up to my poor decisions regarding diet and exercise, and I have since reversed my Type II diabetes through diet and exercise alone. I’ve been taken off all medications.

That's amazing!

 

[tubedude]

that is just hedging of bets. To be an optimist, you have to commit.

Depends on what's at risk. I try not to be a pollyanna, ie unrealistically betting on a great outcome.
If the downside is severe, I hope.for the best but prepare for the worst. That's optimism.
Foolishly believing I will survive jumping off a 4 story building onto a pillow, or some such fantasy of will, well that's delusion.
In situations with such odds, and risk, it pays to be optimistic with a preparation for an other than optimal outcome.

 

[raysachs]

I’ve had this weird relationship with optimism, pessimism, and reality. Since I was about 18 or 19, my outlook on the state of the world, the environment, our experiment in self-government, etc, has gotten worse and worse and worse in a pretty much linear fashion, year by year. Yet over that same time, my personal life has gotten better and better and better in a similarly linear fashion, year by year.

I’ve only got one grandchild so far, and her for only a little over a year, but she’s the little apple off my eye. I’ve got a wife who’s been my best friend and partner since shortly after the day I met her and who I like and love more today than I ever have. I’ve got two daughters who were basically good kids, but with the usual teenage issues growing up, who have turned into the most delightful young women I could ever hope for - smart, kind, funny - good people and great company. They’ve both married great guys - when they were little I used to think about all the young man ass I was gonna have to kick when they came sniffing around my daughters, but both of these men are great guys, like sons I never had. Couldn’t want more for either of them. And professionally / financially, we’ve done well enough to be secure, but not so well that the $$ became more important to us than it should have. Oh, and we’re all reasonably healthy in age appropriate ways…

I still think the world is going to hell, more now than ever, and I worry deeply about what the future holds for my daughters and my grandchild(ren). But my life, in my early 60s, couldn’t have been better. So, call that what you will. I’ve always sort of considered myself a pessimist, but experience has sort of turned me halfway towards optimism. Regardless of terms, reality has been great for me. So far. That’ll just have to do.

-Ray

 

[3fngrs]

There are bright spots in life. New guitar strings. Electric starters on Harleys. Jolly Ranchers.

That's all I got right now.

 

[chulaivet1966]

Well, it largely has to do with my faith, and of course it’s against the rules to tell you about that here. But life experience is a very large part of my optimistic outlook, which my faith/worldview interprets as reasons for keeping on the sunny side of life. And I can tell you about those.

Howdy Larry....

Me....I call myself a cynical realist.
All the optimism in the world won't change a thing....only action does.
My "life experiences is a very large part" of my cynical realist outlook.
Especially, my years from 18-22.

It appears you've done very well with your life challenges and at 75 very soon I certainly share many of them.
This getting old isn't for the faint heart.

Have a great day everyone....

 

[omahaaudio]

I thought it was because you liked to fit people with eyeglasses.

 

[telekaster1999]

Got to take the grease with the gravy.

 

[trapdoor2]

Pragmatic optimist here. **** happens, deal with it, move on.

My glass is half full, to reduce spillage carrying it to the next project.

 

[Chester P Squier]

Optimism and a positive outlook work for me.

I'll be the first to say you have to make allowances for the bad stuff though.

 

[Thoughtfree]

Optimist.

I think that the world is going to hell, definitely. And it has always "gone to hell", since the dawn of recorded history. The sum total of human happiness and well-being, around the globe, is the same now as it was in the year 1900, or 900 AD, or 100 BC. I figured this out, right or wrong, around age 10. The deeply flawed human creatures that populate the globe make it near-impossible for things to be any different, in totality. Well-being and goodness shifts over time to different spots in the world.

Your opinion may differ. But if the world is worse now than ever, what was the best year we have had?

I have spoken.

 

[Tele T]

We are all f--ked,it helps to remember this. George Carlin

 

[Greggorios]

Nice post @LGOberean, you're a power of example. I was probably born and/or nurtured with a predisposition toward seeing the glass as being half empty or at least worrying about what is left leaking out! What I've learned is that I have a choice in how I view things. It does take conscious effort and some action; I just can't think my way into a different perspective. Interacting with others, staying active and engaged in life, mindfulness, meditation & prayer, reaching out for help as well as helping out others, throttling back on judging others, etc. all can help in maintaining a healthier outlook on life, at least most of the time.

I have some serious concerns about the overall state of things in the world but at the same time I can clearly see that we humans have made incredible strides over the course of my lifetime. I find that remembering this on a regular basis is important. I continue to believe that there's more good people out there than bad despite remaining prepared to stand up for what I believe in.