Optimism is like magic – it has the power to make the impossible a reality because it gives folks to courage and motivation to try. If there is one thing we believe everyone should guard with their life, it’s their optimism and so we asked some of the most optimistic folks we know to talk to us about how they developed their optimism.
Emelia Justine
Yoga. The more I learn, the more I love and believe in yoga’s innate ability to unite people: to themselves, to community, to Spirit. Read more>>
Sloane Davidson
I get my optimism from people. I see the good that people do every day to help neighbors, to help elders, to help pregnant women and moms with strollers and those in need. I see optimism through my two small kids who are wildly optimistic about the world and I get it from myself. I believe resilience is a form of optimism. I’ve been knocked down with grief, trauma, accidents, conflict, anger, fear, regret and every time I have gotten back up. It might take a while, I might have a few more bruises on the inside and a harder shell on the outside, but I’ve done it and I’ve seen people do it who face the unthinkable of having to leave everything behind, flee their homes and become refugees. I see optimism but I also choose to see it and I think that makes a world of difference for how I see the world around me. Read more>>
Noelle Pate Packett
Optimism means so many things to me. First, in the general most common sense, it is simply a way of life. A choice perhaps that stems from one’s own inner strength and experiences. However, optimism can also have many negatives associated with it that can lead to burnouts, naiveity, and loneliness. I can confidently say, I’ve experienced ALL of these things. Read more>>
Carrie Veatch
I don’t know if I’m half glass full or glass refillable! The truth: I lived for so many years in cycles of victimhood, pessimism and self-doubt. And really the only person that was truly suffering was me. As I age, the more I recognize my responsibility in making myself happy. In choosing my own outlook and perspective. I often say that I have less tolerance for my own unhappiness the older I have gotten. Read more>>
Gerry Fialka
My optimism is rooted in how my parents raised me, with love and concern for others. It comes from other people and the words of Marshall McLuhan, who said, “You mean my whole fallacy is wrong.” … “Carefully make plans then do the opposite.” … “The Balinese have no word for art they do everything as well as they can.” … “How about technologies as the collective unconscious and art as the collective unconsciousness?” … “The artists of our culture, ‘the antennae of the race,’ have tuned in to the new ground and begun exploring discontinuity and simultaneity.” …”Understanding is not having a point of view.”… “Everybody experiences far more than he understands. Yet it is experience, rather than understanding, that influences behavior.” McLuhan called his probing process “applied Joyce” examining Finnegans Wake by James Joyce, which must be read outloud with a group of people. Joyce sought epiphanies in everydayness, satirized information overload, and invented language about language with new words like “laughtears” and “feelful thinkamalinks.” One must “BE HERE NOW” and live in the present. “Artists live in the present and write a detailed history of the future.” – Wyndham Lewis Read more>>
Ani Barrington And Peri Bolts
Being the co-owners of Eclectic CO., we can’t help but to have optimism about where our community is headed and the impact that models like ours make in the world. The nature of our work is retail, yes, but it is so much more than that. Our community of 150+ artists and small businesses run and manage their own spaces inside of our storefronts and it creates a tight-knit web of humans that are all working towards a shared goal of creativity, financial stability, and betterment of our communities/environment/world. We get to see all of the real and raw parts of the human experience: moves, births, deaths, jobs gained and jobs lost, relationship changes, all of it. Getting to celebrate all of these amazing humans at their highest highs and support them at their lowest lows is a big job, but our vendors continually show up for each other and make special bonds. This love and care for one another translates into spaces where customers feel seen, included and like their purchases truly make a difference. Words really fall short of describing how special our spaces are and that gives us great optimism! Read more>>
Jenn Proctor
My optimism is something I’ve developed over time, largely because I had to. Growing up, things weren’t always stable, and that taught me early on to search for the light in the darkness. Initially, it was a survival mechanism, but over the years, it evolved into my natural way of seeing the world. I’ve found that focusing on the positive allows me to navigate life’s challenges with a clearer mind and a lighter heart. Now, it’s a conscious choice I make every day—to find the good, embrace humor, and surround myself with positive energy. And honestly, a great playlist doesn’t hurt either! Read more>>
Chrissy Mcgrorty
My optimism comes from my friends and family. They always encourage me to see the positive side of situations and provide me with reassurance when I’m facing challenges. I spend time with people who make me happy and we celebrate together, focusing on the good things in life. Read more>>
Laura Pelaez
My optimism is deeply rooted in the migrant spirit. As someone who has experienced the journey firsthand, there’s an innate belief that something better always awaits on the other side. It’s the hope that fuels countless individuals to leave familiar shores and embark on uncharted territories. Read more>>
Jenny Mcnabb
I’ve found that it takes far more energy to be pessimistic and cynical than it does to be happy and take life as it comes- I suppose I’m lucky in that way. It’s easy to backslide into a pit of despair and hopelessness, and it definitely does happen- but once I catch a wave of inspiration again, everything bad fades into the background and I’m free once again to create anything I choose. Read more>>
Jessica, Tim Escorza, Smith
Hello! My name is Jessica Escorza and it is funny to read this question because I was just joking the other day with someone about this. The person I get my optimism from is dear to my heart and her word for me has always been “Joy”. My optimism and the way I view my life, my job, my everyday mindset, is because of what my mother, Barbara Escorza, has instilled in me. She not only taught me, but showed me the power of optimism and how living a joyful life does our heart good. She allowed me to see that despite trials and challenges life throws my way, the mindset I choose to have about these things will determine how I build my own strengths and character. My optimism and joyous personality is a big part of who I am and as the old saying goes, “You never know what someone else is going through”, so the I always allow that to be my reminder. If I can be the one smile someone sees in their day, the one person who simply says good morning or tells them to have a great day, simply being an ear to listen, best believe I will do that to the best of my ability. That right there, is a huge part of who I am to the core. What I do for work, running a program for adults with special needs and being so heavily involved in the world of special needs, optimism and joy are CONTAGIOUS. My clients here at Agape Village face challenges that I will never truly understand and I truly learn something new each day from them. The way they view life, the way they walk through our doors completely happy to be there, the way the smallest gesture can bring them the biggest smile, it is not only beautiful, but something I admire about each one of them. So not only does my optimism come from my mother, but it comes from the men and women I get the honor of working with daily here at Agape Village. Read more>>
Maureen Francisco
A mentor once told me that whatever hardship you are going through, remind yourself, “this too shall pass.” Life has seasons. There are peaks and valleys. If you tell yourself, the next day is an opportunity for a fresh start, it makes the hardship somewhat easier to manage.
I also lean into my faith A LOT. I know God would not let me experience something if He didn’t equip me with the tools to handle it. Read more>>
Rosie Allenson
I’ve always been known as “the positive one”. I was overly cheery to the point of being fake, overly enthusiastic to the point of being annoying, and overly optimistic to the point of being unbelievable, according to most of my friends and teachers at school. It was genuine, though! I was always a really happy kid. Every morning on my ride to school, I would tell my mother one thing I was excited for that day, and the thing is, I didn’t even really need to ponder it. I was just sort of in a constant state of excitement. I’ve always really loved my life, and I think that’s because I’ve always had the privilege of doing what I love. I have the best parents ever, and they’ve always supported my theatrical ambition, which many “theatre kids” will tell you is rare. I was in acting class at 6, I started singing lessons at 10, and I’ve been dancing for my whole life. I was so blessed, and because I was always artistically stimulated, I thrived rather than just survived. I had very little to be unhappy about. Then, my freshman year of high school, the rose colored glasses came off very suddenly. It felt more like someone ripped them off my face, stomped them into cement pavement many times and then lit them on fire, actually, but that may be dramatic. On May 25, 2018, my school became another statistic in the long list of school shootings in this country. I have never been more scared, and furthermore, that day made me realize that I actually hadn’t ever really been scared until then, not really anyway. Not in the “oh no, I think I might be about to die” kind of way. I called my mom to say goodbye, I said “I love you” to my boyfriend of ten days because I wanted to tell someone I loved them once before I went, and I sat in my darkened science classroom and did what every student in America had trained to do: barricade the door, sit in the dark, and stay quiet. My anxiety about how I would do on my Biology final quickly turned into something much more real. It all turned out fine, obviously. In fact, we were lucky. The kid was stopped quickly, and while one of my friends was injured badly, no one died. But, I was pretty messed up afterwards, For one, instead of being excited about everything, I was scared of everything, and I mean everything. Stairs? What if someone was lurking at the bottom with a gun? The elevator? It could stop working suddenly and drop down the shaft. Hallways? Someone might be at the end of one waiting to hurt me. The subway? I can’t be trapped in a metal box underground; someone might shoot up my car. School? Forget about it. I totally changed, and I lost a lot of my joy. I remember actually thinking in the following months, while I was studying through a musical theatre intensive that I not only loved, but was literally the highlight of my year, “I will never be happy again. I am going to feel this way for the rest of my life.” It was awful. Now, remember how I said I had the best parents ever? It applies here, too. They really stood by me through this time, and eventually, they helped me get out of it. The shooting, while absolutely something no one, especially a child, should ever have to experience, woke me up to the real world, but it also gave me a newfound perspective. Life can and will be really scary. There are going to be days that are undeniably bad. And then, there are the other days. The mundane days, the stupid days, the boring days, the good days, the great days, and the best days ever. I decided after the shooting that I could go ahead and consider May 25, 2018 a really sucky day, and if the rest of my days don’t reach that level of bad (and a couple of them have, in their own way, but the vast majority haven’t, I’m happy to report), then that must mean there’s got to be some good in there, and life, I’ve decided, is too short to focus on anything other than that. Life can end anytime, anywhere, for any reason. That’s a scary thing to realize at fourteen. Frankly, I’d rather die holding onto the joy than being lugged down by the sorrow. There’s bound to be a healthy mix of both, because that’s just life, but I don’t have to carry it all with me. And it takes fewer muscles to smile than it does to frown. So, it might be annoying or unusual to some, and it’s certainly earned me a reputation and few smug remarks, but that’s why I’m so optimistic. Because truthfully, life is way too short to be anything but. Read more>>
Ashley Miles
1) I have a deep recognition of how much I have to be grateful for. For 5 years I led mission trips to Central America and Haiti where I met amazing humans who lived in the worst possible environments and circumstances – yet they had so much joy. I learned that what matters most is not what we have, but who we surround ourselves with. No matter how dire a situation may seem, there is always – always something to be grateful for. There is always light in the darkness, you just need to look for it a little harder sometimes but it is there. Read more>>
Bria Jaime
I get my optimism from the now. The present moment. I focus on being present and staying in that frequency which allows me to vision and have hope for the future. Mental and energetic practices to help stay aligned and in that vibration. Conscious meditation, intention setting and sacred ceremony, allowing for release, surrounding myself with the right people and being mindful of what I consume. Read more>>
Charmain Taylor
My optimism is very genuine. I can honestly pull a positive note from any situation. My positivity comes from the environment I grew up in and I keep it alive by practicing mindset work. I am extremely active so that natural dose of happiness from endorphins is a bonus!
How you view life genuinely is all perspective. Read more>>
K.b. Wagers
I think I was born with it? *laughs* I’ve always been relentlessly optimistic, or maybe persistently optimistic in the same way that humans are persistence hunters. A lot of what gets me through more difficult times is just to tell myself to take another step, keep going. At the end of it, I think that choosing hope is a far better course of action than the alterative, so that’s what I do. Read more>>
Jiayun Zhang
As the managing attorney of an immigration law firm, my optimism is grounded in several key factors. Firstly, the successful resolution of complex cases and the positive impact on clients’ lives provide a profound sense of accomplishment. Each successful outcome strengthens my confidence in navigating the legal processes and fuels my optimism for achieving favorable results in future cases. Hearing about clients thriving in their new environments is a constant reminder of the meaningful difference our work makes. Read more>>
Stacy James
My Dad. He was the most optimistic person I’ve known. He taught me at a young age that it’s important to keep a positive mental attitude in life and especially in the pursuit of our dreams. And failure is a part of success. You have to be willing to fail to succeed. It’s heavy stuff when you’re young, but as I’ve walked through life his advice has really rung true and it certainly has helped me. Read more>>
Kristen Baltrum
My optimism comes from a deeply held belief in the natural law of polarity. All too often a “negative” idea, comment or situation comes my way and I can get bogged down by the weight of that negativity. OR, I can remember that everything has an equal opposite. The opposite positive idea, comment or situation is often way more fun and energizing. I find that as I engage in the positive, life is more brilliant and opportunities abound. Read more>>
Philip Bedwell
My optimism and positivity have developed from constantly questioning, reframing and redefining myself. I’ve had to make many mistakes with situations and people and have a willingness to learn from what I could’ve done better and where I also know how to forgive myself and others. Read more>>
Ariana Pineda
My optimism comes from knowing that the toughest moments are just the beginning, and with God’s guidance, things can only get easier. When I started Kairos Automations, getting clients felt like an uphill battle—cold emails, endless outreach, and very little response. I later met my business partner, Chase who serendipitously reached out to me to chat about automations. Everything changed from there. We combined our strengths, and within a week, we brought in $15k in contracts. It wasn’t easy—long days, no rest—but knowing that everything happens according to God’s plan for my greater good is deeply comforting. Every “no” is just God’s way of leading me to an even better “yes,” and that faith is what keeps me hopeful and inspired for the future. Seeing how quickly things can turn around when you push through the hard parts gives me hope. Starting out is always the hardest, and that’s what makes the future so exciting. Read more>>
Carlos Durán
I think my optimism comes from two places:
First, doing what I love. I am following the dream I had as a kid which is writing music for media (films, tv, and videogames)
Second, from all the support my parents and my friends give me, and overall being surrounded by a network of talented and sensitive artists that support my work. Read more>>
Dk Davall
My optimism simply comes from two philosophies:
1. – Personally having a strong belief that if ‘m diligent in all that I do, all will work out for my favor.
and
2. – I never judge because I understand that in some way, form, or fashion, we’re all a mirror of each other. Read more>>
Joelle Provost
I truly believe optimism comes out of necessity. Like anything else- gratitude, kindness, etc- optimism is a practice. And long term optimism is rooted in action, meaning, it’s sustained through making choices that are aligned with prosperity for the future, like laying out the groundwork for generations to come. I am now a low impact painter; id like to be known as the notorious LIP. I paint on upcycled canvas because the non organic cotton from the art store was not aligned with my values, and cotton is one of the crops with heaviest pesticide use in the US annually, wreaking havoc on animal ecosystems. Our household of three is also low waste and plant based and I am part of several zero waste groups online. All of these things give me hope. Hope is deeply rooted in action for myself and my family, and this is where my optimism grows. All of this is out of necessity because future generations need us to pay the groundwork for them, and they need to see that elders have the discipline to fight for our future. Read more>>
India Mitchell
My optimism comes from my faith and support system. Through every single setback I’ve experienced in the process of building this business I’ve always known that God would help me through to see a brighter day. My family, friends, and boyfriend have all made immense sacrifices to help support me through my darkest of times as well. On my worst days I’ve always had people to lean on, provide me with advice, and cheer me on. Between these two I have always found a reason to smile, keep trying, and continue to believe that my work will always pay off. Read more>>
Pratibha Bhattarai
Growing up in a rather conservative joint family, we had everything provided for, house maids who were available 24 hours to cater to our needs. However, we were taught to be humble and kind to everyone who helped around the house with everything. I grew up in a very disciplined household, where everything had to be done in time, waking up around the same time, breakfast around the same time and dinner with the whole family together. From my great grandfather who had founded more than 25 schools, to my grandfather and my father, everyone had worked really hard to be a respected, renowned and powerful person. Read more>>
Adam Defrin
Remaining optimistic is one of the most important traits towards succeeding in life, in my opinion. As you get older, your optimism starts to fade by nature, because you face many more hardships as an adult than you did as a child. As a result, you start to expect the worst, because things don’t go your way as often. I go out of my way to remain optimistic every chance I get in life because I believe that when you have that attitude, things are more likely to go your way. Read more>>
Julie Radlauer-doerfler
My optimism comes from my belief that there is abundant good in the world. I believe that part of my optimism is genetically set (50%) and that part of my happiness is based on life experiences (10%), so that leaves 40% of my happiness to my approach to life. I choose to focus my everyday actions on creating good in this world and support those that need support. I typically do this through sharing research to create tangible changes with people struggling with their mental health. Read more>>
Clara Capano
I was not always positive and optimistic. In fact I spent a great deal of my life living on the other side. What helped me change was connecting with my purpose. When I gained the clarity on why I was here, how I could serve others and shift my focus to the ability to deliver value each day, everything changed. I now wake up with excitement and energy because I truly believe I can positively contribute to the world, one little interaction at a time. I being and end my days with gratitude to remind me of all the good thing I have in my world. And on the bad days I reflect, not just on the gratitudes, also on learning from the setbacks. Read more>>
Josh Schoonover
My optimism comes out of a place of darkness, believe it or not. I was always naturally optimistic growing up, but then I became an adult and the Real World smacked me in the face. Financial struggles, physical setbacks, getting laid off… all these things led me to a place of bitterness and resentment, but in the end that got me nowhere. So now, I make the conscious decision to be optimistic, knowing full-well that things don’t always work out exactly the way I want them to, but if I keep going, there will always be light at the end of the tunnel. Read more>>
Nina Wittmer
My optimism comes from the belief that even in challenging situations, there are opportunities for growth, connection, and positive change. I also draw it from the stories of resilience and creativity that people share, showing that no matter the circumstances, there’s always potential for progress and better outcomes. It’s about seeing the possibilities that exist within every moment and focusing on how to contribute positively to the world around me. Read more>>
Ermias Hagos
The optimism that I now have for life, comes from multiple things. When I was in my junior year of high school, I realized just how short life is for us all. My grandmother had passed away and I was torn up on the inside. That event, while saddening, inspired me to live each day as if it were my last because we dont know when our time will be up. Therefore, why not live each day with a hope and belief about life? My optimism also comes from my mother and her continued confidence in any situation she is in. Despite how she may be feeling, I’ve always seen her be willing to take on the day with a great attitude and confidence. Lastly, my optimism comes from God. My belief in Jesus has played a big role in my life. When you have a reassurance that there is a higher power, someone who knows your life timeline and makes everything happen for a reason, you cant help but live life boldly and with a certain optimism that you then want to share with others. Read more>>
