Optimistic Me

I take back what I said in my last post.  About there "not really being any reason not to be pleasant".  When I refer to myself as an optimistic person, it has nothing to do with my life being sunshine and rainbows all the time.  I'm sure most people could find it pretty easy to be optimistic when things are good.  So let me assure you that my life is not sunshine and rainbows all the time.  I actually have lots of reasons to not be pleasant.  I'll spare you and not make an actual list though.

If my life were easy and picture perfect, I wouldn't be optimistic.  At least, not in my head.  Optimism, to me, is finding the good in even the worst of situations.  So if everything was going perfectly, it wouldn't really be optimism that I had.  It'd be contentment.  I don't want to be just content.  I want to have life experiences that make me a better person and help me to grow.  I'm a firm believer that I learn more through trials and tribulations than I do if I were just coasting along and everything was peachy.  But optimism means I don't allow myself to be beaten down by those trials and tribulations.  Rather than being consumed by the 'bad' of any given situation, I focus on the light at the end of the tunnel and the fact that I'll be a better person by the time all is said and done.  I don't want to come out the other side of a situation with nothing but bitterness, anger and regret.  That's not gonna do me any good.  But if I come out the other side of a situation with knowledge and experience for the future..... then I'm a-ok. 

I have lots of things in my life that could make me feel justified in being an unpleasant person or being pessimistic.  I could sit around and wait for the other shoe to drop, because in my experience, it always does.....but I choose not to.  That is Optimistic Me.