People often ask me why I am such an optimist. They ask how I can always remain positive about the world and the people in it. The truth is, I have to. I have encountered places and fields where I see the worst of what people do to others.

I see people hurting not only themselves but their children. I see pain, anger, hatred, indifference and death. I see parents who choose drugs and abusive partners over their children. I see children who are forever affected by the horrible events they have experienced.

Cynicism is easy in my job. It is simple to become hardened and callous about the things that we see and hear about. All around me are people who have given in to this cynicism, and I can’t blame them. After witnessing a certain number of negative things, the human mind naturally tends to think everyone acts that way.

I think, I don’t want that for myself. I have to actively seek the beauty in this world. I do everything I can to find something that takes my breath away each day.

Whether it is a moving quote, an amazingly beautiful photograph, a joke that makes me laugh till I cry, or a smile from a stranger, I find something each day. I confront cynicism where I find it and I do each and every thing in my power to help others to see the beauty in this universe. Because it is there. Beauty is all around us and we are so caught up in our pain that we don’t look for it.

And the truth is that we’re all in this together. Life beats down every person in a complicated and unique way. At some point everyone is hurt to the core by life, and I say, “Good.” Pain is a teacher.

As in the ubiquitous example of a child touching a hot object, pain teaches you what not to do. Embrace your pain and use it for good. Use your past pains to help others avoid the same pains. Use the pains you as examples for yourself. Don’t use your pain as an excuse to avoid life, an excuse to deny beauty, or an excuse to hate. Your pain isn’t the end, it is the beginning. With each little pain we experience, we can choose to let the pain close us off from the world or open us to it. Let it open you to the wonders of the world and the beauty all around you.

Let’s all think positive, we can make it—somehow, somewhere over the rainbow, beneath the pale moonlight. Oh yeah! 🙂

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Health and technology freak. Food and lifestyle blogger with a large appetite for food and travel.

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15 Responses

  1. jane

    yep! i believe you dear! im with you in this! i am trying as hard as i can to stay positive though i know bad things is just around the corner. much better to be positive and be confident always! xx

    Reply
  2. Gemma|My Dailies

    “Don’t use your pain as an excuse to avoid life, an excuse to deny beauty, or an excuse to hate.” – I love this line! So true, we are just full of excuses, sometimes, we just need to face ourselves trust in our powers and stop the indifference.

    Reply
  3. Franc Ramon

    There’s always a better way. That’s how I always looked at things no matter how tense or desperate things are, we can always choose the better alternative.

    Reply
  4. Mai Flores

    If you only knew the real me, you would be glad that I’ve embraced the goodness of the world despite my hardships in life. I am actually more thankful that I am in a safe and good place now. So thank you for making me remember even more that there’s more to life than all the cares in this world. God bless you! 🙂

    Reply
    • marri

      I sympathize with your sentiments Mai… Each of us had experienced our lowest and seemingly hopeless situation but what’s important is how we regain strength to stand up again. LIFE is not perfect and we have to face realities whether we like it or not.

      Reply
  5. Jo-ann

    I love myself to much that I do not want any anger control me. Life is too short to let negative things be on our way.

    Reply
  6. Kenneth Ravida

    Thinking positive is always a good thing to do, it sometimes affects and changes the way things go

    Reply
  7. Dust

    I couldn’t agree more. I am full of positivity myself. I always get annoyed by pessimists. Although I also learned that there is an extreme in optimism. That is when you loose contact with reality. It really pays to avoid all extremes. Thanks for the reminder! Awesome points. 🙂

    Reply
  8. Jam

    i am currently experiencing pain right now. what i always do is to have a happy disposition whatever i encounter. but you know, sometimes you get tired of the pain you are having. . what makes me to live my life is that i always have hope. like what Franc said, “Hope is one commodity we should never run out off.” whoah. Life. ang sarap mabuhay.

    Reply
  9. papaleng

    I don’t have any grudge with optimistic individuals but I guess one must also learn to be Realistic from time to time. always remember hindi natin kaya lahat, we have our limitations.

    Reply
  10. Tess

    Life is full of pains.No happiness without pain. it is part of our lives, We deal with it, leave it and not for keep. Move out , move on, just to get hurt again. Well, that is life…
    I so love this post…………

    Reply
    • Rochkirstin Santos

      Thanks, Tess. Life can be too difficult at times but while we’re here, we just have to make the most out of it. I know this all sounds cliche but it’s true.

      Reply
  11. RonLeyba

    Being positive at all times is hard, really. I am trying to be positive all my life, day in and day out but there are always time that a bit of negativity hits you. It can’t be avoided but there are lots of things we can do to replace that negative energy with a brand new positive energy that we can find around us.

    Reply

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