This topic has been on my mind for a while. For a long time I associated optimism with smiling politicians and salesmen. Thing is, as much as it is easy to associate an optimistic attitude with salesmen of policy and products, optimism is more that just a trick played by men and women in suits.

Optimism is matter of attitude. People with an optimistic attitude see the best in every given situation and person. Whenever I met such people I always wondered how they would react to setbacks. In short, they reacted like other people while remaining hopeful that the best was yet to happen.

Through the years I have met a few people who were genuinely optimistic because of their personality. These individuals, through the sheer force of their personality could brighten up every given moment. They would always have energy and one genuine smile would take all tension away.

I am not an optimist. In general I tend to look critically at the world around me. A religious upbringing and the fanatical studying of holy and other books was a big part of my life. When I left religion behind I learned through life, study and several jobs of the vital importance of the optimistic attitude.

When dealing with people, school, jobs and projects the schedules and the deadlines shift like sand being moved by the wind. Workload can change from a few grains of sand to a whole sand dune. In balancing life while dealing with people, school, jobs and projects there are two extreme ways of dealing with everything.

The first way is simple, all that matters is getting the work done and you continue your life again. The emphasis is on work, not enjoyment. The second way is partly opposite. Yes work has to be done yet work is also to be enjoyed. When life is something you want to enjoy and work is part of that, you might as well find ways to enjoy your work. On the long-term that makes even shitty jobs less shitty.

Through some setbacks and new experiences I decided to approach life differently and to enjoy life more. If that means I become more of an optimist then fuck yeah. To make a grim future less grim, optimism is needed…

P.S. The post 1990-2000 generation has to clean up a big mess, pollution and the climate are just the start.