A Nostalgic At Heart

I would like to think I'm an optimist most of the time and in many ways. I have my father and good friends to thank for it, I suppose. My father was always, while I was growing up, trying to get me to look at things in a positive way. Not to freak out too easily. Good friends, which are hard to come by, have made that possible too. It’s not that I wake up with a big-toothed smile on my face every single morning and jump out of bed with no worries on my mind... Lately I've been trying to make it my first instinct to approach each day with the basic thought that:

1. The world is good. Translation for you non-nostalgics: yes, there is suffering and evil. But I like to believe that there is goodness in everyone. That people are basically good.

2. Our Life is a blessing and a gift. You never know how short life is until something tragic happens. So treasure everyday you have on this earth.

3. It aint all that bad.

There is always someone who has it worse off than you. It can always get worse.

So try to control the things you can and don't worry about the things you have no control over.

Then, armed with these thoughts everyday I still find something to complain about at least once.

Then I have to say to myself "hey! get over it. It's your fault you feel crappy. Sure the day didn't turn out the way you planned but it's your fault you feel the way you do."

That is usually a good slap in the face and then I usually snap out of it. :-)

My point is this: while I am, at heart, an optimist…I’m also a nostalgic.

Here is what it means to me. It means that my optimism is balanced by a constant, underlying, nagging tug-o-war over everything that’s happened before the today.

Nothing is off limits! Sometimes I get nostalgic about the the music i'm listening to, photos, movies I watch and the food I eat.

I actually saw a t.v. show on Nick at Night last night that I haven't seen in years. This instantly put a large lump in my throat. It made me think of simpler times and carefree days when I never worried about a thing.

And if I hear the song "Red Red Wine" forget about it. I'm getting teary-eyed just thinking about it right now.

I need counseling!

So since my sister had her daughter, Reagan, I've been thinking about when I was little and life was good and times were simpler. Not a single worry.

So, yes. Optimism=Good.

But throw a little Nostalgism in there and you have the makings of a completely unstable woman/aunt.

So right now purley for my own enjoyment and hopefully yours, I'm going to throw in some pictures of my cute niece.

Maybe this will create a bit of notalgism (is that a word?) for you to. :-)

Happy remembering.