Criminal Level of Optimism

“I’ve been driven all of my life by a spirit of adventure and a criminal level of optimism.” – Quincy Jones

I just read the above quote this morning and it made me smile with recognition. I didn’t think it described me exactly, although I do consider myself to be a mostly optimistic person. It reminded me of a person I worked for and befriended, a few years ago. This person is a very enthusiastic person who is always teeming with new ideas. She is unbridled with an almost child-like belief that whatever she sets her mind to, she can get and frankly, she usually does. She is almost 60- years-old.

When I was still working for her, in a position that ended up evolving into being like an assistant/cheerleader/sounding board, she would often come into the office with a new idea or direction that she would be taking her life into next, and I would dutifully listen, usually stifling my concerns and/or what I considered to be, my practical skepticism and realism. I first started with the stifling because she was my boss and she’s the one who gave me my paycheck, but then, I continued reserving my concerns, because honestly, she constantly proved them to be wrong. In short, I became a believer in the very potent power of her enthusiasm and optimism. The most hare-brained ideas (in my mind) ended up happening for her, anywhere from negotiating fabulous vacation rentals down to hardly any expense, to eventually creating an intricate app for our phones, that serves as hope for other people. Keep in mind that both of us were so tech-illiterate when we worked in an office together, that we took hours trying to figure out how to scan something on her new printer. This woman, then in her mid-fifties, soon after, created an app and a huge website that touches people’s lives, all because of a dream that she had on Christmas Day. She felt the divine need and calling to fulfill that dream and nothing would stop her.

Sometimes people come into your life and they help you to reflect on your own sense of self. Compared to my boss, I realized I wasn’t nearly as optimistic and filled with innocent enthusiasm, as I liked to think that I was, in my life. In fact, in some ways, I was sometimes downtrodden and victim-like, in my thinking. That was shockingly, eye-opening for me. Sometimes I would feel smug in my intellectualism and my “sanity”, when trying to keep my boss/friend’s expectations firmly on the ground. But somehow, it never failed, that her hope and persistent optimism would lift both sets of our feet off of the ground and into the skies, when another one of her visions would manifest itself into reality.

I don’t know if I’ll ever be as optimistic as my boss/friend/example of hope. But because of her example, I’m more convinced of the very strong power of positive thinking, against all odds. Optimism, left unchecked, is probably what has evolved every dream ever had, into the beautiful manifestation of all of the good things that we enjoy in our lives, this very day.

“Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement. Nothing can be done without hope and confidence.” – Helen Keller

“I believe any success in life is made by going into an area with a blind, furious optimism.” – Sylvester Stallone