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How my optimism will help me press on to greater achievements in the future.

We've all been in that situation where they put half a glass of water in front of you and ask the simple question, is the glass half full or half empty? If you answer with half empty, you're a pessimist, a person who anticipates the worst in every situation. However, if you answer with half full, you're an optimist anticipating the best in every situation. I'm not going to lie and say I've always been an optimist because at some points in my life when someone placed that glass in front of me, I've answered half empty. Now before you say, well, this is an //optimist// speech, why are you telling us you're sometimes a pessimist? I am here to tell you about how I am 99% optimist, and how it helps me push onto greater things in the future.

Almost every time in an activity we do, maybe it's sports or a club, we've wanted to give up and quit. I did ballet from age four to age twelve (if you didn't know that was nine years of hard, intense dance.) When I was about eight, I was tired of going to ballet and doing the same thing and never getting it right! I would try the same step or combination for hours on end, but still would never achieve perfection of the step. All my goals of going on pointe, becoming a professional ballerina, and dancing for a company were useless if I had quit. I was ready to walk out of the auditorium doors and never come back. But, I ended up staying. What was the one thing that made me stay? Optimism. I knew that if I kept with the same routine, I would someday get to my goals. Two years later, I achieved my goal of going on pointe. The only way I knew I could reach my goals was through optimism. If you have this mental capability, you can achieve anything you want with a little determination and hard work.

I could stand here and go on and on about all the times in my life where I used optimism and it made something fantastic happen. Optimism isn't a wish granted by some magical creature thing; it's belief in yourself. If you believe you are capable of doing something, go out and make it happen! As I said earlier, sometimes I'm a pessimist. When you think about it, aren't we all at times? If something terrible is going on in your life, you may think nothing great will ever happen again. You may think it will never get better and things will always be horrible. At one point in my life, a lot of my family members and friends were getting sick, hospitalized, and even passing on. I didn't have any hope for the future. I would think, "Would it ever get better?" I realized that it would get better. And it did. My loved ones in the hospital were released, the ones that were sick recovered, and everyone was alive and well. The point is, when you believe better things will happen, it will! Optimism isn't a wish on a star or that post on Tumblr that says "make a wish, reblog and your wish will come true!" Optimism is something greater than a coin toss into a fountain. It is a state of mind. It is confidence and hope in future events. That's why I always hope for the best because you never know where it may take you.

A while back, my best friend was going through a rough patch in her life. She wasn't having the best thoughts about herself, and her well-being. I could tell she wasn't the same girl I talked to everyday and who knew everything about me. I talked to her and told her, "Things will get better. I promise." I knew this because in every horrible situation I've been in, things have gotten better. I helped my friend through this hard time in her life because of optimism. I explained to her that you shouldn't get upset over one hard time in your life, it will get better. If you didn't have low points and high points in your life, life would be boring and bland. I told her to look forward to the great milestones in life she would miss if she ended her life. If you don't look for the great things in the world, in your life even, you will get nowhere! If you wake up every morning with nothing to look forward to, there would be nothing to live for. This is why everyday when I wake up, I try to think of one good thing to look forward to in the day. This is optimism. Looking for something positive in every situation.

Now by this point you're probably thinking, how exactly does your optimism help you in the future? I mean you just told us about how you used optimism in the past. I use optimism in the future in thinking about upcoming events. These events could be years and years away, but I always have hope for the future in every situation. I know everyone dreams of getting into a great college, or getting married, or getting a job, or paying taxes, wait a minute, nobody looks forward to that. Anyway, I realized that I worry way too much about the future. Now I'm not saying it's bad to think about the future, just don't over think it. When I overthink a future event, you know what happens? What I expected to happen never does. When I'm constantly dwelling over one situation that could be years away, I get too stressed out over something I shouldn't be worrying about for awhile. When I have this mindset, I realize how much greater the world is! If I always have dark clouds over my head because of one bad thing that happened, or could happen, I will never be happy! If I constantly get upset over something that happens in my life, I can never enjoy the great things because there's always something bad in everything you do. Always try and shake off the bad things and remember, if you have optimism, it //will// help you press onto greater achievements in the future.