Because you are so negative.

[Holly Barnard]

To put it simply, I am an optimist. I attempt find the silver lining in every situation and the good in every person. Whether it be failing an exam (a learning experience in my opinion), not getting tickets to a concert (a chance to save money and find something else fun to do), or having to move away from all my friends (an opportunity to make so many new ones).Most people call me naïve for even trying to do so. They’re probably right. Why do I bother to live my life like this then? Because I suppose it is my own personal form of rebellion against my father. (I realize it is a very odd type of rebellion, but I’ll explain) He is quite possibly the most cynical and pessimistic person I know. He constantly rants about how awful everything is- people, the government, the economy, society, the world in general. I remember coming home from school one day and telling my father about how we read The Little Prince in class that day. Just telling him that set him off in a rant about how we should be reading more “serious” novels and that I need to start “growing up.” I was in awe that he could take something so simple and turn it into something so apparently awful. At some point I think I just got so tired of it all and knew that I didn’t at all want to be like him. That’s when I took my attitude in the complete opposite direction.To him, the world is just everything that happens to you. To me, the world is how you react to everything in it. I choose to react positively whenever possible. To some, this is difficult. However, at this point, I don’t know how to act any differently. Believing in the good of the world is what gets me through life. Believing in the silver lining is what gets me to the next day in the worst of times.