February 19, 2018

SPARKS OF OPTIMISM

Sparks: Week #20

 

Sparks of Optimism

 

I was a pessimist growing up and well into my adult life. My reasoning was that if I never expected anything good to happen, I would never be disappointed or dissatisfied with an outcome. Conversely, if something turned out well, I would be surprised and delighted. A variety of things have occurred in the past 20 years that have influenced my thinking.

An optimist is a person who tends to be hopeful and confident about the future or the success of something. Though no longer a pessimist, I wouldn’t call myself an optimist. But I do try to see the silver lining in every occurrence, good or bad.

I was not familiar with Nicholas M. Butler before finding this quote. As you may not know about him either, here’s a bit of information from Wikipedia.

Nicholas Murray Butler (April 2, 1862 – December 7, 1947) was an American philosopher, diplomat and educator. Butler was the 12th president of Columbia University (1902-1945), president of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and a recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize.

This is another of Dad Tom’s photos. It was taken just outside the catio.

I am joining Annie (McGuffy’s Reader) for her Sparks blog hop. In establishing the hop, she wrote this, “I believe we are meant to be lights in this world. If we allow our light to shine, we can see where we are going. It is then that we can begin to truly see each other clearly. Together, we can light up the entire world!” This is what makes Sparks so special and why I look forward to participating each week.

If you’d like to join the hop, click on the Sparks badge.