I think real optimism requires us to make room for the heavy stuff too.
Life is going to have ups and downs. Sometimes those shifts happen over months or weeks, and sometimes it feels like our entire perspective can change from one moment to the next.
In this episode, I talk about why I do not think being an optimistic person means constantly trying to feel positive or immediately escaping every difficult emotion.
Sometimes we need to sit with what we are feeling.
How long we stay there is going to depend on the situation and the person. Sometimes we can redirect ourselves relatively quickly. Other times we get stuck, overwhelmed, or simply need more time.
That is part of being human.
I also talk about remembering that we really are trying the best we can.
Your effort is not going to look exactly the same every day.
Some days you are going to accomplish everything you wanted to accomplish.
Other days, simply getting through the day may take most of what you have.
Neither one requires perfection.
Even this podcast is an example of that. There was not an episode yesterday. The goal is not to prove that I can perfectly execute something every single day. The goal is to keep showing up, keep trying, and understand that those smaller efforts can add up over time.
I think it is important to have good outlets, appreciate what is around us, stay present when we can, and look for the positive.
But we can do all of that without pretending there is not heaviness too.
You can be optimistic and realistic at the same time.
You can have a difficult moment without deciding that everything is bad.
You can sit in something heavy without believing you have to live there forever.
And wherever your effort is today, if you are genuinely trying the best you can, that is enough.
