A few years ago, I got this sign, and hung it in my hallway, where I walk past it 500 times a day. It never fails to make me smile, and I think that is exactly why it is in the perfect spot.

Like me, it's a little battered and worn-looking, but somehow manages to be cheerful. This morning, I got to thinking about being an optimist, and how important it is for me to find something positive to focus on, even when times are difficult.

I'm no saint, and honestly, I get crabby and blue like everyone else. That said, when times are stressful, or the hurts run deep, my mind immediately runs looking for the funny. And once I've found the amusement, I can begin to let my natural buoyancy take over and my mood comes bobbing back up to the surface.

While surfing blogs for work, I stumbled across a post on a site called In My Studio where she posted a version of Christian D. Larson's The Optimist's Creed. I've seen it before a time or two, but reading it again this morning, I found myself nodding and smiling.

Read it out loud, and see if you don't feel, well, sunny:

The Optimist's Creed

I promise myself...

To be so strong that nothing can disturb my peace of mind.

To talk health, happiness and prosperity to every person I meet.

To make all my friends feel that there is something worthwhile in them.

To look at the sunny side of everything and make my optimism come true.

To think only of the best, to work only for the best and to expect only the best.

To be just as enthusiastic about the success of others as I am about my own.

To forget the mistakes of the past and press on to the greater achievements of the future.

To wear a cheerful expression at all times and give a smile to every living creature I meet.

To give so much time to improving myself that I have no time to criticize others.

To be too large for worry, to noble for anger, too strong for fear and too happy to permit the presence of trouble.

To think well of myself and to proclaim this fact to the world, not in loud words, but in great deeds.

To live in the faith that the whole world is on my side, so long as I am true to the best that is in me.

- Christian D. Larson

Thanks, Sophia Rose, for posting this reminder!