OBSERVATION: If you were given a wish from an all powerful genie as to one attribute for your children what would you choose. There are lots of candidate’s: honor, intelligence, perseverance, common sense, integrity – I want my kids to have all of this. But if I really could bestow on them one attribute I think it would be optimism.

Optimism is the most powerful of the children of positivity (experiencing the world and expressing oneself in positive  terms). Its siblings: gratitude, enthusiasm, cheerfulness, hopefulness are other attitudes that not only improve the way we experience our lives, they set into motion actions and reactions that dramatically improve the likelihood of success as well as happiness. People react positively to positive people creating a solid network of friends and associates. Positive people believe that success is not only possible but inevitable if they keep on trying, keep on trying while their less positive counterparts quit. True, an optimist who invariably predicts a rosy outcome will occasionally be wrong while the pessimist is more likely to be right because his pessimism increases the likelihood of failure and disappointment. So the choice comes down to being right or being happy. I want my children to be happy.

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