The Problem with Optimism

So college and blogging are officially hard to do at the same time. For the past couple weeks I've been thinking "Man I should really post something" but then I always have homework, or an upcoming test, or I'd just rather watch Parks and Recreation instead.

I've been noticing something recently. I am a very optimistic person. I always try to look at the world in a positive light. I'm not always successful, but I try. I tend to see the best in people, and I suppose I can be naive at times because of it. But I find that the world is a much more pleasant place when you don't spend every waking hour criticizing things.

However, the thing I'm noticing is that a lot of people my age don't think like this. I hear so much criticism surrounding me about everything, whether it's classes or professors or activities put on by school or church or chapel or the dress code. You name it, I've heard people bash it. And it's a vicious cycle. The upperclassmen talk down about something, the underclassmen hear it and think that's the cool thing to do and we go along with it.

The culmination of this whole thought process I've been having about this for the past few months was chapel this morning. Everyone has been making a big deal out of today's chapel for a while. The administration saying how great it's going to be, the students talking about how it's like a train wreck you can't look away from. So going into chapel this morning, I wasn't really sure what to expect.

Now, let me be honest here. It wasn't the best chapel we've ever had. They did a skit type thing that was pretty cheesy and a lot of their jokes fell flat and I didn't quite agree with everything they said (there was some eye rolling involved). Everything they said was something I'd heard before. But you know what, it wasn't as bad as people made it out to be. It was fairly entertaining and hey it wasn't someone lecturing directly off a sheet of paper for an hour. I don't really want to mention the fact that I sort of liked it, though, because everyone else so fervently hated it that I'm afraid I'm going to get accosted.

I guess what I'm trying to get at is that I've noticed that if you're un-ironically enthusiastic about something, people often see you as unintelligent or naive. Because obviously being intelligent means being above anything common or rudimentary. If you're educated, or even just if you're cool, you can't enjoy anything because you have to spend your time criticizing it to show your superiority.

I don't mean this to sound like I'm condemning everyone, because I'm not. I know a lot of people who do not have this negative mindset, and I'm so appreciative of that. They are the people that keep me from losing hope in optimism. So I guess I'll just keep trying to stay optimistic and maybe, hopefully, it will rub off on some people.

Lisa