I was standing in an exceptionally long line at our local
convenience store yesterday. Since I was going to be late anyway, I decided to use the down time to observe the people around
me. Some of them were waiting patiently, smiling at each person that walked by
them. Others were obviously impatient; shifting back and forth from one foot to
the other and glaring around the rest of the line at the harried clerk who was
madly ringing up sodas, mystery meat sandwiches, and lotto tickets as fast as
he could run the scanner.
There was the standard stranger-chit chat going on between
the people in line around me. Some were complaining that the store should
obviously have more clerks working during the busiest hours of the day while
others pointed out that it was a good economic sign that the store was so busy.
Without fail, those who were pointing out the positive sides to standing in
line for 10 minutes were the same ones who were smiling at each new person who
walked in the door. My idle curiosity sharpened into professional interest as I
continued to observe my fellow shoppers.
What, exactly, was the difference in attitude? We were all
in exactly the same situation. It was lunch hour and most likely at least some
of my cheerier line mates were in just as big a hurry as those who were
impatiently glancing at their watches every 10 seconds. So…what gives?
Suddenly it occurred to me that I was observing first-hand
the hidden value of optimism. Those smiling people who were marking time by
spreading sunshine probably had just as many things left on their daily to-do
lists as everyone else in line. The major difference was that to them, the wait
time was just a temporary setback that would be over shortly. Life would go on,
and at least the wait was only 10 minutes instead of 20.
These glass-half-full people were obviously more relaxed and
more capable of enjoying the everyday details of life. They weren’t so focused
on the loss of time that they didn’t see what was going on around
them. The world wasn’t passing them by, and most amazing to me was
that it was all a matter of perspective. They simply chose to make the best of
a frustrating situation instead of viewing it as a disastrous loss. No big
deal.
If we all chose to deal with life’s curveballs in such a
positive manner, the world would be a much more relaxed place and the lifespan
of the average human would increase by a decade. I’d be willing to bet that the
number of people on antidepressants and anti-anxiety medications would decrease
significantly, too.
I’m not advocating sticking your head in the sand and
refusing to take life seriously. What I am suggesting is that perhaps we should
slow down a little and take a look at the big picture instead of getting mired
down in the details. That, in essence, is the hidden value of optimism – the
ability to see the good things in life even when the scenery isn’t so great.
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