Optimism

Life is a race where the fittest of all survive and the weaker ones perish. Every day, life tests a person in a number of ways. Some accept defeat in these tests straight away, while others try their level best to succeed. Only a minute fraction of them pass the tests of life and emerge as successful people. What is it that makes a person eager to face the tests of life? What is it that differentiates a loser from a winner? And what is it that one quality that one should inculcate to become successful?  

Optimism.

An optimistic person views life with a positive outlook which gives them strength, courage and encouragement to face challenges and try to emerge victorious. Almost everyone is familiar with the quotation about the glass of water and optimism. An optimist sees a half full glass while a pessimist sees a half empty glass. The optimist tries to derive encouragement from the achievements so far and hopes that he will be able to pass all the tests of life while the pessimist enjoys living in a world that doesn’t know what success is.

Every one of us must have faced some moments in our life which have filled us with optimism and hope for the future. My life is filled with many such moments. Here is one of the from my childhood.

As a child, I was never good at studies. School was a place that I disliked the most, except for the playground in it. And maths was the subject that I dreaded a lot. I used to have nightmares of numbers and symbols encircling me, abducting me, carrying me far away to an alien world and leaving me there all alone. I often used to wake up and shout in the middle of the night. The days before exams were the most stressful moments for both me and my parents. Maths used to stress me a lot and my fear towards maths induced stress in my parents. My parents never bothered about the marks that I got but the teachers didn’t have the same indifference towards marks. Often, I used to come home with my knuckles turned red because of the ruler.

I was in class ten at that time. I used to get fairly good marks in almost all the subjects except maths. I had spent the last two months before the exams studying for maths exam. I also often skipped my play time. I used to bury my face in maths books the entire day and try to make sense of what was written in the books.

The day of the exams finally arrived. My mind was filled with many questions. What would happen if I fail in the exams? How would my future be? Will I be able to pass the exams atleast in the supplementary exams? My mind was filled with many more questions.

The exam was scheduled to be held in the afternoon. Just when I was leaving for the examination hall with my father, the postman arrived and delivered a letter. I opened it and read it.

I hadn’t mentioned something about me till now. I was a very good singer. I participated in several reality shows and won quite a few of them.

The letter was from a famous music director. I was offered the chance to sing in his next film. That moment changed my perception towards life. Till then, I was pessimistic about my future. I thought that I would fail in the exam and my life would become miserable. But after reading the letter, my view towards life turned optimistic. Failing wouldn’t really affect my life. My parents never scolded me when I failed in exams several times in my school. The society might laugh at me for failing to achieve the standard targets set for all children. But it wouldn’t matter. I had immense passion for singing. My life would still be beautiful even if I fail. I can make a career out of singing.

That optimism helped me perform well in my exams. And I also got many more offers as a singer. And today, I am a mathematics professor and also a singer. That moment, taught me how being optimistic helps you succeed in life. 

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