7/18/08 Oozing with hope and optimism

I am literally being chewed up and spit out here. Or maybe chewed out. The culprit? Negativity and sarcasm. Not mine. I am beginning to feel like the annoying high school cheerleader that everyone rolls their eyes at, spontaneously cheering on my team. Ready? OK!! I feel like I am constantly cheering for life, our military life, that we have to live everyday. What's the point in being so negative about it? This is your life!

I used to be a very negative (I liked to call it "realistic") person. One of my hubby's favorite mottoes is "Hope for the best, prepare for the worst." Before I met him, I was only preparing for the worst, never believing that what I hoped for would ever culminate. I used to think I would never get married. I didn't think I was lucky enough to fall in love. But Hubby came a long and changed all of that, and changed me for the better. Another of his favorite mottoes is, "Everything is OK in the end. If it's not OK, it's not the end." His mottoes are oozing with hope and optimism. For the past 4 years that we have been together, he (along with a lot of prayer and desire for change on my side) has slowly but surely changed me from a pessimist to an optimist.

I realized the other day that I hardly recognized myself…in a good way. I vividly remember my countless days and years that I wasted on negativity. Now, I feel like I am so optimistic about everything! Life is beautiful and a gift from our Creator! He has a plan for me, this I know full well. And in the end, our side wins! What’s not to be optimistic about?? But is this new person really me? Or am I putting on a fake happy face and erupting with words of encouragement that I don’t really mean? I came to the conclusion that, nope, this is really me. Just because I am not the way I was 4 years ago does not mean that it’s not still me. This is who I have become. Even when it’s just me, with no one else around tempting me to put on any kind of front, I still feel joyful, content, and optimistic about where I am in life and where I’m going. The words of encouragement and hope that I tell people, I genuinely mean.

Stop wasting time on negativity! It is worthless! Avoid it at all costs. I have walked out of several social settings that have become nothing more than one woman trying to top another woman’s pessimism and bitterness. This is so destructive! Run away! Why would you surround yourself by others who are not trying to build you up? If their negativity is more destructive to you than your optimism is helpful to them, try to steer clear. Misery loves company. Maybe that’s why many of these women do not enjoy my company, or just find me plain obnoxious. Be around those that want to encourage you.

Please don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying that I am never down, never annoyed or frustrated, never sick of this crazy life, that I never vent. Like I always reassure Hubby, 95% of the time I am perfectly happy with the life that we live. It’s that 5% of the time that I am at my lowest, when everything feels hopeless, and that I just can’t win in any situation. It happens to us all.

In the book of Numbers, Moses sent 12 men ahead into the land of Canaan, the Promised Land, to explore. Of these 12 men, 10 men came back and told the people that it was a land “flowing with milk and honey.” The explorers saw with their own eyes that it was everything the Lord had told them it would be. The only unexpected thing was that the land was inhabited by very powerful and strong people. The 10 explorers told the Israelites that they could never conquer these people. However, Caleb and Joshua spoke up and insisted that the land was good and that God would give them the courage and strength to defeat its inhabitants. After all, this was their Promised Land!

Be like Caleb and Joshua. Stand up and say, “No, y'all! This is good!!” You will be in the minority, but will be exceedingly blessed by this!