Optimistically Optimistic!

Growing up, my sister and I had a great childhood. We wanted for nothing that most average, middle-class American families possessed. A nice home, new vehicles, cool clothes and whatever our little hearts desired.

We went on camping trips, took regular vacations, had many family get-togethers and neighborhood cook-outs. Both of us did well in school, participated in extra-curricular activities and had many friends.

The one thing, that no amount of money could buy or any amount of good times could create for us, was optimism. Our parents were 'negative' type people and always found the worst side in most situations.

Dictionary.com defines optimism as : a disposition or tendency to look on the more favorable side of events or conditions and to expect the most favorable outcome.

My sister and I, more times than not, experienced the negative side to most scenarios. We were always told to consider what the worst possible outcome could be and were most times shunned from certain activities because of "the worst that could happen".

In a sense, this quality, was passed on to us. We were faced with pessimism and negativity from an early age, into our early adulthood. The awesome thing about it is, we chose not to cling to it. We chose not to let it bring us down and make us weak. We chose to turn it around and learn from it and so often talk about it now in our adult lives. Happily, we overcame it.

When I became a mother, I wanted to instill in my children something that I never had. I wanted them to believe in themselves and in others and in the world. My parents did not see the world for what it was until later in life. I knew I had to change that for myself and for my own children.

When Chelsea was little, she would watch Blues Clues faithfully. Every day around lunch it would play and we would watch and sing along. One of the many little jingles that played in that show went like this:

You can do anything that you want to do!

As she got older and lost interest in Blue's Clues, I continued to remind her (and even do so to this day) that when there is something in life that you want to do. You can do it! There is no reason to believe that you can not. Her favorite words when she was small, were "I can't!" And I was always right there reminding her "You can do anything that you want to do!"

Although I was not taught how to think on the bright side and look at the glass as half full rather than half empty, does not mean that I can not be that person today. It does not mean that I will not strive to teach and encourage my girls to be all they can be and never give up, and I hope it will be a quality that they aggressively instill into their own children.

Hopefully someday many years from now, a small child will be told that they can do anything that they want to do. And they will.

For more posts on optimism, visit Tiffany