Are You Enjoying Old Age With All the Optimism You Can Muster?
Each day is a gift to enjoy, even with all its faults
Yes, I’ve had some amazingly productive days in my life, and also quite a few disappointments. But I’m an intentional optimist.
First, understand optimism does not ignore reality. No, it accepts reality for what it is. But the optimist smells the aroma of better days ahead.
I like the way theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer defines optimism:
The essence of optimism is that it takes no account of the present. But it is a source of inspiration, vitality and hope where others have resigned. It enables a man to hold his head high. To claim the future for himself and not to abandon it to his enemy.
I like the sweet aroma of positive outcomes evoked by Dietrich’s “essence of optimism.”
Dictionary.com defines “essence” as:
The intrinsic nature or indispensable quality of something. Especially something abstract that determines its character.
I want this distinctive mental and moral character to define my personality. I’m sure you do as well.
Everyone has a story to tell, especially as we age in our 60s and 70s. The riddled landscape defining our past is full of…
