Bright Sides and Other Hands

I am a Bright Side type of person!    Likewise, I'm a On the Other Hand person.  Whenever something bad or yucky happens, I have a negative thought.  Negative thoughts come very naturally to me, but then it is usually followed quickly by looking on the bright side.  this hit me like a ton of bricks yesterday when I was walking in the wind and thinking how windy and dry it was.  On the other hand, that means it's not rainy and muddy.  When it's raining, there's mud, but on the bright side, it could be snowing in the mountains and slowing down the Taliban.  AND......there's no dust!

Negative people really bring me down and then it makes me kind of grouchy.  So imagine how difficult it must be to have a husband and a daughter who are pessimists. One of the things that Jack does that bothers me the most (beside the fact that he is incapable of opening a door quietly despite me trying to teach him for 20 yrs) is the fact that whenever I have an idea, his first reaction is all the reasons why it won't work or can't or shouldn't be done. My reaction is virtually always, "How can I say Yes?"  Obviously we are complete opposites in that regard.  It used to just annoy me, but since I have noticed it over the last two years or so, it just makes me mad.  Partly because it's so predictable.

But back to the topic of the bright side.  I love that there's a bright side to most things. And I think that people who can look on the other hand tend to be happier and more successful than those who don't.  Michael J Fox is an optimist and has actually looked at the research on this topic.  Optimists are healthier and happier than chronic pessimists.  I think that's pretty cool.  And for me...I wouldn't have it any other way.