A BORN OPTIMIST

Les explains the rationale behind his Optimism with his usual frank dialogue.

Responding to one of my recent letters, Ron Watts considers that I am by far too optimistic and how right he is. I am a born optimist. I believe that optimism and humour, however perverse, go hand in hand, where-as pessimism goes hand in hand with despair.

On 1st January 2007 I wrote down some five objectives which I wanted to achieve by the end of the year. It is now September 2007 and to date I have made excellent progress as I was optimistic enough to know that I would do. I have not as yet secured any of my objectives one of which was to learn to play the Saxophone an instrument I bought some 10 years ago. The progress to which I have referred to relates to the plans which I consider are essential for any operation you may wish to undertake and it is in this planning area that progress has been made. I see little point in executing a plan until it has been fully formulated.

What is the point of our romantic hero approaching the delectable Miss Jones with a dinner date in mind only to be told to "Get Lost". What plans has the dear boy got in hand to deal with such an eventuality? The answer is none so it's back to the drawing board which would not have been necessary if fully formulated plans had existed in the first place.

So you could ask when do I intend to start learning to play this Saxophone and the answer is when I have fully formulated my plans to do just that. And when will that be? Well the same day that I start to implement these plans; and when will that be? Well the same day as formulation is complete. I have a feeling you are not paying attention. You wouldn't have thought of asking Graham Bell when did he intend to invent the telephone and expect him to say next Thursday at 2-3Opm! He would say he was optimistic that it would be sometime in the future.

I really do believe that formulating a plan can be more exciting than to actually execute it. A house will never fall down at the planning stage but it might after you have built it. Planning, for any forthcoming event, can again be exciting as your optimism tells you all will be well. When the day of reckoning comes it might turn out to be a disaster.

I can look forward to the future with the utmost confidence of a true optimist secure in the knowledge that I have never experienced failure. Yes, the pessimist will say but you haven't experienced success either. But the optimist in me will respond by saying yes, but one day I will. That is the beauty of being an optimist. You live in a dream world, the world of tomorrow. I don't spend today crying over spilt milk because I know today is like all the other days that have gone by, so unrewarding as compared to what the future holds.

And what does the future hold? Well, at this moment in time, everything you desire. As a result I shall be spending my day formulating my plans for the future, not implementing them you understand, nothing so silly, just formulating them. What a wonderful world awaits me, and what a pleasure it is to be an optimist, and to live in the dream world of tomorrow.

Les Lawrence