My friend Jacinta, this high energy, enthusiastic, passionate about life sister social worker,  waxed poetic recently which made it irresistable to refrain from following up with a question.  “The possibilities are endless, I love life ”, she offered.

“Do you love life, because the possibilities are endless, or are the possibilities endless because you love life?,” I queried. Each day, it seems, we are all faced with the uncertainty as the subsequent 24 hours unfold. We never know from moment to moment what changes and choices we will face. Anxiety is epidemic for many who fear that sense of not knowing. I have come to relish it. Most mornings, I wake up feeling as if a huge present is set before me that I get to unwrap. Even when there may be undesriable tasks to complete, I always know that at least one portion of the rotation around the sun, will carry with it, a bountiful portion of joy.

Was I born optimistic, or did I learn it?  Perhaps both. “Optimism can be learned”, according to Martin Seligman, PhD. author of “Learned Optimism”.  Everyone has challenges, but optimists seem to be made of rubber and bounce back from them more rapidly and with less impact than a pessimist.

Perhaps I was hardwired for it, although my paternal grandmother was a worrier and my father (to a much lesser degree than my Russian immigrant Bubbe who fled the pogroms to come to America at age 16) inherited her ‘worry gene’, viewing it as a sign of love. I reminded him often that worry doesn’t keep anyone safe. When I have been face to face with life stuff, I have been able to see my way clear to the other side of it without too much angst.

I am not a glass half full person…rather, I am a glass ALL full kinda gal. You see, even if it is only half full of liquid, the rest is air. I prefer to refer to myself as an ‘opti-mystic’ who sees life through the eyes of possibility. I rarely allow myself to be limited these days. Even when events don’t pan out the way I think they ‘should’,  I am able to discover the message in the mess. I have become the queen of reframe and putting things into perspective. What if you knew that becoming a possibilities thinker could yield amazingly positive results? How would your life change if you could see what the day brings without second guessing it?  As you close your eyes for the night, could you dream to the horizon and beyond?  Could you become a lover of life?

http://youtu.be/ACCcU0X0dW0 What The Day Brings  by Brad