I think optimism is something that every one of us would like to possess. Optimism is a “hopefulness and confidence about the future”. It is being hopeful of a successful outcome.

I wrote that definition not because I think some people don’t know the meaning of the word. I wrote it because optimism is such a foreign concept to some, that seeing a definition might stir them to the possibility of experiencing an optimistic thought.

Yes, some people are “glass half empty” folks and others are “glass half full”. It’s how we are wired and for good reason.

I always say that if Lily followed my thinking we’d have lots of fun but we’d be broke, and if we did things Lily’s way, we’d have lots of money but man, life would be sooo dull.

We need both perspectives. We’ve been given one, but we need to appreciate the other.

Regardless of how we are wired, there are times we need to see good in the bad, and find contentment in disappointment.

The other day, I came home from work and, as usual, pressed the button to my garage door opener from the street behind my house, so that when I turned the corner onto my street and reached my driveway, the door was already up.

It’s like I’m driving into the bat cave. If my neighbours looked out the window they would wonder why my garage door goes up when there’s no car in sight, only to then see my bat mobile (I mean, my Hyundai Accent) come bombing around the corner, up the driveway and into the cave.

I bet my associate wishes he had one right now. But that’s not the point of my story. … I got out of my car and with my back to the garage door, I pressed the button for it to go down.

As I fumbled for my keys to open the house door there was a huge bang. I jumped, and almost dropped the keys.

I couldn’t tell if something really big and heavy had dropped or whether the ammonium nitrate in our fertilizer triggered a small explosion (our lawn has been doing well this year).

As I looked around the garage, I noticed that a wire on my garage door was loose. Then I saw that the spring for that door had broken. My immediate reaction was, “No way! This couldn’t happen at a worse time.”

You see, we had just booked a company to come and replace our other garage door for the next day. Now, we would need the second garage door fixed as well.

I just shook my head. But then I thought, “Maybe the timing on this couldn’t have been better. The repair guy is coming tomorrow; he can fix both garage doors in one visit!”

Yes, it did add to our expense, but we didn’t need a whole new door (just the spring assembly).

The great thing was it could have happened the day after the repairman came, or a week or month later. Instead, that door broke just in time to get fixed the very next day.

Here’s the thing: When you experience a glass half empty circumstance, don’t just settle for that perspective. There is greater value in looking for the glass half full perspective in that circumstance. God will always provide something of greater value than what’s on the surface … if we will look for it.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: How have you turned a half empty circumstance into a half full one? Leave your comment below.