It has been suggested that perceiving a glass as half full or half empty gives some insight into one's outlook, The optimist will celebrate the quantity of water within that vessel, while the pessimist will bemoan the liquid that is gone.
It has been suggested that perceiving a glass as half full or half empty gives some insight into one's outlook, The optimist will celebrate the quantity of water within that vessel, while the pessimist will bemoan the liquid that is gone.
Based upon our backgrounds and hardwiring, we all have expectations and outlooks about everyday living, Trouble is, circumstances often do not pan out as planned or expected. Thus, when the tire goes flat, the electricity goes out, or a slip and fall lands us in the emergency room, the pessimist is eager to point out the dark side of our day-to-day.
The optimist, on the other hand, enthusiastically points out the good side of our situation — the car has a spare, candles and flashlights will get us through until the power is restored, and thank goodness we were not hurt more badly.
Things get more complicated, though, when we realize that few of us are all optimist or all pessimist, Truth be told, we harbor both an inner cynic and an inner idealist, Right now, these two are going toe to toe inside my head.
The new house project is moving forward, yes, but with a regular dose of the pesky, surprising details that make construction or renovation so vexing, With every unexpected circumstance, and its attendant unplanned expense, I curse the added money and time that will be necessary, but also give thanks for work being done so thoroughly and for having the means to get it done.
And I have just come across a new wrinkle in my daily reality; my old car has begun leaking oil at an alarming rate. Without making any new noises, without suffering any discernible change, the engine has abruptly decided to return a substantial amount of the petroleum it uses to the earth from whence it came. It is disconcerting to see a rainbow trailing from my parked vehicle on a rainy day.
This development was certainly unexpected; there is never a good time to have your car go south (metaphorically speaking), But, again, I have to be grateful; I am able to borrow a vehicle while mine is in the shop. And though the impending diagnosis may announce the end of my trusty Volvo, that would not be the end of the world either. Surely another car is out there, waiting to be driven to the bottom of the automotive food chain.
Besides, what I am experiencing are mere inconveniences, No one close to me has been diagnosed with a catastrophic illness, and no one has been killed or injured by a random act of terror or war, an industrial accident, or an earthquake, My problems pale in comparison to those suffered in Boston, Texas, Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, India, and China.
I tell you, the more I look at that it, the fuller that half glass gets.
Pat Grimes, a former South Bay resident, writes from Ypsilanti, Mich. He can be reached at pgwriter@inbox.com.
