It seemed the right thing to do ahead of diving straight into the ‘silly season’, and in this time of incredible love and hate, confidence and fear, fake news and alternative truths, to hear shared voices of optimism. SO asked the question: What’s your take on optimism?

op·ti·mism

/_äpt__miz_m/

noun

Is defined in the dictionary as:

hopefulness and confidence about the future or the successful outcome of something:

Truthfully, I don’t walk around telling my self to be optimistic. In fact, when I was invited to contribute, it actually struck me that I am, in fact, an eternal optimist.

Don’t get me wrong, I have deep doubts and fears like everyone else, but for me, the two key words that define optimism are actually words that define me as a person: “hopefulness” and “confidence”. These are what fuel me and give me the drive to always ‘Just do it’, once I set my mind to it. Whatever the “it” is.

I trust my abilities, and even more, I believe in my capabilities, so I therefore challenge myself always, to at least try anything my mind tells me, even once; I move forward in confidence, And give it 110%, hopeful, that in the end, whether I succeed or fail, the result is equal to my efforts.

Ralph Waldo Emerson says, and I quote:

“The power which resides in him is new in nature, and none but he knows what that is which he can do, nor does he know until he has tried.”

The key word: Tried.

He also says…

“A man is relieved and gay when he has put his heart into his work and done his best”.

Key words: Done his best… only your best is good enough.

That is my mantra, always. It’s a kind of competitiveness I guess. It’s both my strength and my weakness unfortunately, but honestly, for me, it’s a drive to always DO my best (strength), but to others it may seem like a drive to be best (weakness), a misconception actually.

When I look back at my life, I can think of instances where my optimism resulted in a successful outcome:

Ten years old, in a foreign country without my parents and limited experience of how to swim. With the knowledge gained from my father’s lessons I was able to swim long distances underwater, but not above. I was tired after a couple days of just playing around in shallow waters, so I decided it was time to just dive off from the deep end. Hopeful I would make it underwater all the way to the other side, my confidence in my abilities took me there and I never looked back.

Throughout primary school and high school public speaking and dancing on stage and at JCDC Festival and school concerts, with confidence in my abilities and hard work, and my efforts always equalled the result.

Participating in The Miss Jamaica Universe Pageant in 1994, confident from my result in The Jamaica Fashion Model competition two years prior, I was only hopeful for a good result, but my efforts yielded a victory.

Marrying my husband after only knowing him for 10 weeks was the heights of optimism. But I dove in hopeful, confident in our love and respect for each other

Having children, after having lost, a heartbreak that would make anyone give up. But God sent me a messenger, to tell me that my Anna would come, and she did and that experience alone, as I grow older, and am faced with challenges and disappointments and loss, teaches me to be optimistic in all things, and that no matter what, there will be joy after the pain, And smiles, even guttural laughter, after the tears that flow like rain.

With Angelie’s Cakes, that came about simply because I asked myself one day, “How difficult can it be to make a two-tiered fondant cake?” Then Angelie’s Lunch Service and Catering. Make-up, Fashion, and now ASH, Angelie Spencer Home, all born of optimism

It’s no wonder I’m mildly obsessed with opticals.

So now I see life through my 0.2 rose-coloured Krewe glasses and the forecast is beautiful. I don’t care to know what limitations are, and there is no such thing as “can’t” in my book. I know that I am truly blessed and highly favoured, and I move forward in this knowledge, always, with pure optimism.