Optimistic

An optimist says the glass is half full, the pessimist says the glass is half empty. My wife says, "Who left this half empty glass on the kitchen table".

I am usually the culprit, as well as the family optimist.

Lately pessimism has been galloping around the nation, or at least among my circle of friends. I, with my nice recession-proof job look at the unemployment numbers, the inflation rate (which when combined create the fabled Misery Index) and see reasons to be optimistic.

We recently refinanced our house, at a rate not much higher than my Grandpa would have had after WW2. Remembering mortgage rates in the double digits, I'm feeling pretty optimistic.

For the last dozen years or so, Gemey and I have been squirreling away money in a retirement account, and the last year or so these investments have been doing pretty well, so in that regard, I'm optimistic.

I have good reasons to be optimistic. I've been married for 15 years, and if Gemey hasn't divorced me after all the lunacy I've committed, she never will. Being her husband has been a life-affirming challenge, giving me a purpose beyond the eat, sleep, work treadmill I had prior to our nuptials. On a regular basis I have a house full of kinfolk. I have a nephew who thinks I'm the bees knees, and my grandkids visibly enjoy my company. I have a set of teenage grandkids to influence in faith and politics, a kindergartner who runs to greet me, a toddler to call me peepaw, and a chunky infant to bounce and coo. As a bonus, a wee one lives with us who smiles and drools when she sees me.

It hasn't all been sunshine and daffodils, either. Our family has been clobbered, and it stood against long odds of surviving. With faith and support form our friends, family and church, we made it.

The other day, I spoke with an employee of the Post Dispatch. He made a comment about "these economic times" as if they were egregiously bad. I asked him what times was he referring to, the relatively low unemployment rate, or the below average inflation rate. He didn't cotton to my optimism, stating incredulously "Oh, you believe in that, do you?". Later his employer would emblazon on the front page of Sunday's paper "Jobs are back, and it looks like they are here to stay."

I have no clue where I'm going.

I have worries, but they are not overwhelming me. I figure that optimists and pessimists are eventually going to be right. Things fall apart, things get better. Solomon said a merry heart makes good medicine. I have family, health, and I know I and my clan can weather the worst of storms. The storms of the economy can lash against me, but I know that I'm not really a "me", I'm an "us". Sheltered by loved ones, I can apply energy to problem solving, driven by purpose.

No wonder I'm optimistic.

Tim McNabb