I’m generally optimistic. I have no trouble believing—and have seen—that,

“We know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.” (Romans 8:28)

When stuff goes wrong, it doesn’t take me too much time to shift from, 

“Why would God allow this?” 

To,

“What GOOD might God bring from this?” 

My wife would say that sometimes I need to sit with the hurt feelings a bit longer before moving to the hopeful feelings, nevertheless, I lean optimistic.

Optimism, however, can get me into trouble when,

  • I’m estimating the drive time from where I am to where I’m going
  • I’m estimating the timeline of a project I’m working on
  • I’m giving someone the benefit of the doubt whose track record shows otherwise 

Thus, I’m learning to build in an “optimism cushion” and add on some fail-space to my initial projections. Not diminishing my hopeful outlook, just managing against my natural bias. 

If you or someone you love is like me, don’t go dark; just try an optimism cushion!