The sun is finally shining on our small college campus, the birds are chirping, Ricky Martin is out of the closet and MTV finally dropped the word “music” from their name. Why is it, then, that people all around still find things to be sad about?
One look at our culture and the answer is clear ó negativity is more “in” than flannel shirts. Pessimism has penetrated so many aspects of our world, notably politics, pro-sports, foreign affairs and pretty much anything that has to do with the Kardashian family. In order to save Prozac over-production, I have decided that the world needs to change its outlook on life to being happy and, therefore, productive.
I like to consider myself a super-optimist. By this, I mean I don’t even consider the glass half-full. I consider the glass-halfway to the next glass and that next glass is going to offer up something even better, like wine. I am a firm believer that good things won’t happen to people who are negative. Just look at Mel Gibson who made an ethnic slur when intoxicated and has since only been offered a part in the movie called “The Beaver,” which depicts a man who walks around with a puppet of a beaver on his hand pretending it’s real ó gripping.
Looking at things in a negative way makes as much sense as a dove crying. It just doesn’t work. Looking at things in a positive way, however, allows things that previously made no sense, like Tiger Woods’ sex life, to make perfect sense! Even if it doesn’t, it makes no difference because you’re too happy and elated to care at all.
Some of you may be asking yourself “how can I avoid being negative when all this bad stuff is happening to me?”
The first step of accepting optimism is to take a step back and think about how bad is the stuff that’s happening to you? For example, people being loud and disruptive on a week night might make you really mad and normally storm out of your dorm room in a fury, but if you embrace optimism, you can find that balance between anger and involvement. Say to yourself “they are probably just letting off steam, they had a hard week.” Throw them a beer and say, “Let the good times roll, friends!” I guarantee you that not only will this make you feel better, but also make you super popular as the cool kid who gives out free beer on your hall. Think about it.
If you could sell optimism, it would fly off the shelves like the iPad attached to a case of Keystone. Think about all the huge world issues that optimism would solve! Conflict in the middle east? Gone. Athletes abusing steroids? Share the wealth and everyone wins! North Korea pointing nuclear weapons directly at us on the brink of WWIII? At least we tried diplomacy!
Sure, negativity is hard† to avoid sometimes (think about how Chevy Chase feels when he sees his name in the ending credits). And no, spurring your enthusiasm won’t necessarily make you more experienced or intelligent ó I used to think baby showers were small rainstorms where infants fell from the sky. What optimism will do is make you happy, and even a pessimist will have trouble finding fault with that.