Optimistic by discovery. (WEEK 269)

Being optimistic changes your perception of life and the things that happen, allowing you to create a much better future. It's not easy to change your point of view, but with effort, it can be done.

I grew up in a family where, when I was just a few years old, everything fell apart, total ruin ensued, and eating was often very difficult. A family where my ancestors came from poverty, from hard work in the fields, from escaping countries with severe crises, simply looking for food and survival. They struggled a lot, but pessimism was always present, and thinking about scarcity did not help at all. I know it is very difficult to get out of that, but it is not impossible.

I grew up in a family where there were no smiles, no positive words, there were always many worries and fears and that flooded everything, there was nothing else. And I thought that was normal, that that was how it was, although inside I felt that I was different, but I couldn't bring out the real girl. I always had a sad look on my face and thought negative thoughts because of the same worries that surrounded me. The question was always: Will we have enough to eat tomorrow? Will we be able to pay the bills? Will I have what I need to study?

It was a circle with no apparent way out. I think no one in my family had learned anything else, and that became internalized in me, even though a voice inside me told me there was more. And in that search, which took years, I found answers. But it took too much time, effort, and perseverance on my part. I had to make a complete change in my mindset. I needed to bring out the real me, who, as I always say, is like the black sheep, a weirdo.

One day, during that search, I received a video that was sent to me by email, and something resonated with me. That was the beginning of being able to transform my life. Of course, it consisted of completely changing and transforming my thoughts, words, and attitudes, and I am still on that path. I had tried many things before, but nothing worked. I was lost. But when I received that video, which I can't show you because it no longer exists and because the specialist who made it requires prior authorization to disclose the content, my thirst to investigate, to know myself, to understand why I was that way, and to change became uncontrollable. I wanted to change radically and build a future for myself, one that was good and prosperous in every way.

Pessimism and negativity were so ingrained in me that getting out of it was like tearing something out of my flesh, out of my blood. Pessimism attracts more of the same, and getting rid of it was hard, especially when you do it alone.

Today I can say that I am an optimistic person, of course with ups and downs, like everyone else, but I can look at life differently, knowing that, since everything depends on me, anything is possible if I work at it. Now I know that my qualities, my good qualities, which I highlight in myself, can make the path better every day.

Now I can see the positive side of everything, like the glass is always half full, and that's how it always is now. I look at life with great beauty, even though many things around me are not, despite the news, whatever it may be. Today I am on the right path, I know it.

Being optimistic is a life choice, like choosing between two paths. What I did to change course was to go back, look at the beginning of the fork in the road, and choose the positive one. First, I had to know my history and my family tree in order to choose, and I did. I am no longer a shadow of my former self, and that makes me very happy. Dark clouds will always pass, but I know that behind them is the sun, the light. That is what it means to be optimistic.

Today, the path and the decisions depend on me and only me, so being optimistic is what drives me to improve every day. Besides, being positive attracts more of the same. Being pessimistic leads to sinking, being optimistic leads forward and upward. I chose that.