Although the bulb burned out a long time ago, there's still a light at the end of the tunnel.

Generally, I never wish that anybody was like me in the slightest. And that's not just to bag on myself, although there are plenty of things about me that aren't all that great, just like everyone else. It's less about those things, and more about the fact that everyone being different is a good thing. It's a great thing. I don't want to think about a life in which everyone is exactly the same.

But, at least for the moment, I do wish that everyone was like me in one area....

I have often used the words "eternal optimist" to describe myself. I tend to major on the good, the positive, in any given situation, and it's often difficult for me to see the bad, or to even recognize the possibility that something might be bad until someone or something else calls it to my attention. No matter the situation, I always claim there is good, there is hope. Even if I don't see it, I would use all my breath insisting that it's there. Along the same lines, whenever I take spiritual gifts tests, faith is always near the top for me. And I recognize that as I'm living my life. It's usually not hard for me to believe something, specifically something God has said.

I do realize that I have not been hit been by all the terrors of the world, or even just one of the worst, so I can't say for sure that there is nothing that can shake my outlook on life or destroy it altogether. But I do believe that I have seen enough to know that it is a deep rooted trait and to be able to project how I might feel in any given situation. I have the feeling that even if I was in a completely hopeless situation (the debate of whether that is really possible will be left for another time), I would still insist there was something good even though there wasn't.

If only everyone could be like that. Even though the world would still be full pain and horror, and people would still have to fight, it wouldn't seem so bad. Hopelessness and all the tragedies that accompany it would not exist. And I guarantee you more people would be alive. I can't say that's the only reason I'm alive, but I do know it's the only reason I haven't gone legally insane.

Wishful thinking on my part...but the same side of me that I've been talking about likes to think that maybe it's not quite so unattainable....