How can we remain positive when every single day that passes seems to take its toll? A new challenge, problem, or flaw presents itself and threatens to consume the optimism we hold onto with the tips of our fingers at every closed door and every missed opportunity. Where then, at that very moment, do we look for just a ray of sunlight to guide us out of the darkness? There must be some dependable, prevailing source of enthusiasm to power us through the challenges that thrash at us like a hungry pack of wolves. To that, I offer a suggestion. Optimism is like a flower, it must be watered and fed with beams of light. It must be catered, having the weeds that threaten to endanger its survival trimmed, and the soil that surround it strong and nourishing, and the environment in which it grows clean and unpolluted. Like the flower, your optimism is beautiful and brings a smile to the faces of all who see it. Like the flower, your optimism attracts the buzzing of others, who pollinate you in return with their own happiness. And yet, like all flowers, your optimism is not invincible. The buzzing of friends and family cannot always safeguard your optimism from the pounding rain that ruins its soil. Cloudy days may come, and it may seem like your flower of cheerfulness has withered and perished. To that, I offer another suggestion. Optimism is much like fire. It is pure, untamed, and warm. It keeps you from feeling cold, and when your life seems frigid and immovable it melts away any layers of frost holding you back. The fire of your optimism can light the path for you to take chances, risks, and opportunities that you may have not otherwise considered. It may embolden you, and fill you with the confidence to conquer the challenges that attempt to block you in your life or in the lives of others. Yet even so, your flame of optimism is not indestructible. It can be extinguished with the rush of water or blown out with a forceful breath. Your ignited confidence can be doused by outside influences who seemingly have no care for your thoughts or feelings. So how again, can you find a source of optimism that that does not extinguish, does not perish? To that, I offer one last suggestion. Perhaps, there is no definite source of optimism that triumphs when times are tough. Maybe there is no foolproof way to remain completely optimistic when the odds are stacked so highly against you. Just maybe, this is because we cannot control the forces that create our optimism. We can’t control when the sun comes out, or when it’s raining, or when it’s just cold enough for our flames to be ignited. No, that power is out of our reach. What we can control, maybe even what we must control, is the hope that a source of optimism will always continue to present itself. Even if it isn’t from the source that we expect. A mother may be there to comfort her child one day and then gone the next, but it is the child who chooses whether or not they may be optimistic again. They may not know who will come into their life next or how, but they can make the choice to open themselves to it. We cannot find what we aren’t looking for, and if we’re not looking for optimism then all we will ever be presented with is negativity. Sometimes that optimism can be sparked within ourselves, other times from the people who care about us most, but the only way that we will always be prepared to find it is if we actually want to do so. We cannot allow ourselves to become attached to a single source of optimism in our lives. That is how hope dies, because their are too many challenges for us to fight with just a single root of positivity. As time moves on and our chase for optimism continues, especially now where hopelessness and despair may lie at any doorstep, we must be prepared to open ourselves and greet new possibilities of happiness willingly. Otherwise, the chase for optimism that we all must find in our own way will become as futile as a dog chasing it’s tail. Getting so close, but never quite making it.