Column Post by Lakin Easterling
I’m a fairly optimistic person. I don’t always have happy days and I’m not always laughing or smiling, but for the most part in my life I tend to look toward the bright and good side of situations.
Some people may think optimism is the denial of uncomfortable things or beliefs opposing our own convictions where we choose to ignore the truth of the matter with a smile and some fairy dust. But optimism is choosing to see the finished picture while in the midst of a very messy scene; it is the thick cable of hope that we recognize as forward movement from the bottom of the valley to the top of the mountain.
Optimism refuses to let us forget why we’re doing what we’re doing. One dictionary definitions of optimism is the belief that goodness pervades reality.
Yes. Yes to all of that. I am an eternal seeker of the rainbow’s end, the exact word count, midnight, the end of the semester, and December 31st. I look forward to the ending, not because I don’t like where I am, but because I always want to know where I’m headed.
This is why I love maps, why I like to read the last sentence of every book I buy before I read the rest , why I ask my husband how a movie ends if I know he’s seen it, and why I eat everything on my plate, without fail. I like the sense of accomplishment of seeing something through to the end.
We are creatures of choice. We make a million different ones every day. Yes or no. Fast or slow. Republican or Democrat. Flats or heels. Coffee or tea. Dance or chemistry. Shower or bath. Paper or plastic. So many different ways to be so many different people, but the bones remain the same.
“In Christ’s family there can be no division into Jew and non-Jew, slave and free, male and female. Among us you are all equal.” ~Galatians 3:28 {The Message}
This is where my optimism struggles sometimes, but also where it finds the most beauty. Because when I acknowledge that someone who would rather wake up than snooze the alarm like I do, vote for a different Presidential candidate than I will, or prefer equations over reading a book, is just as cracked and broken as me, the details of the personal beliefs and where s/he chooses to eat a chicken sandwich will become what they are: details. Not the person themselves.
When I free myself to think of others as travelers of the same mountain as me, trying to reach the same ends, by ways that seem the best to them, who am I to point a finger and find a fault? Optimism tells me that we can get to the top in a lot better condition if we choose to see the grace that covers each and every one of us, whether or not anyone else sees it.
P.S. We’d love to know your thoughts, so please be sure to comment below. Each of our commenters will be entered in a drawing for this month’s FREE book giveaway, Mothers & Daughters: Mending a Strained Relationship by author Teena Stewart.
Lakin Easterling is a wife, mother, writer, and avid reader. She spends her days chasing her toddler, Belle, and conversing with the elderly who are afflicted by Alzheimer’s disease or Dementia. She loves surprise coffee dates with her husband Luke, texting novels to her best friend, Laura Hyers, and being a college student. She dreams about being brave enough to get a tattoo, and believes in the healing power of a good cup of coffee. Her favorite nail polish is Sail Away by Milani. She blogs at http://threadingsymphonies.wordpress.com.
Read more encouraging stories from brave-hearted women here. Be sure to grab your free copy of inspirational quotes and writing prompts while you’re there. (Look over on the right hand side!)
