“The key to happiness is realizing that it’s not what happens to you that matters, it’s how you choose to respond.” ~ Keith D. Harrell

            Many friends recently have been bugging me for a blog post. They think I’ve gotten lazy. The truth is, I
   haven’t posted because I haven’t felt all too entirely optimistic lately. I’ve been what Dr. Seligman initially  
   described to me as a classic case pessimist. I’ve thought the things currently not going right in my life will last forever, I’ve let them interfere with all areas of my life, and I’ve blamed myself.
           
      Over the course of my short blogging endeavors, several of my friends—self-diagnosed pessimists—have told me that I’ve inspired them. And that they themselves have sought to be more positive in their lives. This of course made me feel really great, and in turn, initially made me feel even more optimistic about my goals. But in my recent blog abandonment, I felt as if I’d failed them. To my surprise, though, these friends soon came to my aid and began rallying for me.
           
      “We need you,” proclaimed one friend, who said if I could be positive, anyone could. Thanks... I think?

      “You were once a beacon of positivity,” said another. “I want Natalie the cheerleader captain back.” Me? Really? This same friend also claimed I’m meant to be positive, and this recent downer Natalie is not who I am. Again, really? Have we met?

       “I need a new blog post!” exclaimed several others. To you folks, I appreciate the devoted following.

       At first I was mad at myself for failing them and mad at them for pointing it out. Just let me be grumpy in peace!            
       Then tonight, I met up with a few friends at a happy hour event. I got to talking to my one friend’s fiancé, and somehow my blog came up. He pointed to his wrist, which sported a black bracelet with a silver charm that read “positivity.” I laughed. He told me that he thought my goals were very admirable and about how both he and his fiancé try to be people that spread positivity. He said he had told his fiancé that he would wear the bracelet until he met someone that needed it more. Boy did you hit gold, I thought. Then he slipped the bracelet on my wrist.

      Later I got to thinking about this small act of kindness, and I realized it made me kind of happy. My friend and fiancé are the type of people I aspire to be like, only they annoyingly arrive at it naturally. But nevertheless, this simple bracelet made me smile. It came on a day I think I needed it most and reminded me of the good and caring people in the world. This consequently made me think about my friends and their recent words to me. The pessimist in me was so focused on my failures that I had missed the real message: I’m surrounded by caring friends who just want to see me happy. I hope that somewhere in my journey I can give them a moment of inspiration just as I was given today.