Failing Optimism

Originally I was going to write a post entitled “Unfailing Optimism.”

It sounded good. It sounded optimistic.

I’ve had many blessings this week, plenty of things to be cheerful about. The dog stretching himself out along the length of my leg is certainly one of them, and the cat that went flying spreadeagle through the air after her toy this morning is another.

But as I lie here awake, I feel plagued by stress and anxiety about the things I haven’t done this week but should’ve, about my doubts about the future… The list goes on, but you get the point.

And for some reason the blog post that I had postponed writing (at some point this week when I was pretending that I would get my real work done) came to mind.

Unfailing Optimism.

It looks good on paper (or the computer screen)… It sounds wonderfully idealistic… It seems inspiring… But it doesn’t feel real.

At least not right now.

Right now, the word failing sounds more accurate.

So of course, the words “failing optimism” planted themselves firmly in my brain. Then, my brain played a trick on them.  It changed the inflection. No longer existed only the meaning of “failing (at) optimism.” Now, something else had to follow. I haven’t yet decided which one fits my life, my personality, and my attitude best, but I have a few options.

Failing optimism, there is faith.

Failing optimism, there is action.

Failing optimism, there is truth.

More often than not, I think we fail to be optimistic. Sometimes it can seem hard to be optimistic about anything.

But failing that, we can choose something stronger.

The same phrase said one way is the ultimate defeatist attitude. Said another, it represents all the wild possibilities of things that are equally important.

Failing optimism, ________________________.