Warning

Warning to all you pessimists who insist on doing us optimists a "favor" by enlightening us to "reality" as you see it: you might just be left with a demoralized whimpering blob once you are done. Believe me, you won't like it. For the good of us both, just leave well enough alone!

Trust me. We can't handle it. Optimists (at least this one) need the rosy pictures they envision, the hope of something better, simply to get up and face the day. We cannot function with the doom and gloom outlook you maintain—no matter how grounded your conclusions are in experience and fact. You somehow manage to be able to exist, even thrive, with this dismal perspective day to day. I applaud you. But I simply can't.

And so it was, after an ice water dose of Mr.'s "realism" yesterday, that I woke up today completely overwhelmed and unmotivated to leave the safety of my bed. I was awake a while before Mr., and watched him wake up. As he got out of bed I said, "So, how are you?"

Warily he turned back toward me. "I'm OK. How are you?"

"Mmmm. I'm OK too, I guess." (big sigh)

Mr.: "Do you want to talk?"

Me: "I want comforted."

Mr.: "How can I do that?"

Me: "Tell me we're going to be all right, and mean it."

Mr.: (sigh, or snicker, I'm not sure which) "We're going to be all right."

Me: "You don't believe that."

Mr.: "Yes I do. We've been all right up to this point, right?"

Me: "Yeah. I guess."

Mr.: "You OK now?"

Me: "Yeah, I guess."

He leaves. I cry a little bit. He comes back in.

"Your cat's waiting to play with you."

Yeah, that did it. Got me out of bed. Mr. knows me way too well. :-/

But seriously, you pessimists. Don't mess with a good thing. You're going to pay for it later when the optimist falls to pieces and you have to manufacture some semblance of hope just to help her pull herself back together. It isn't pretty. You have been warned.