You're Just Being a Pollyanna!

When someone angrily accuses me of being a "Pollyanna"*, I reply with a polite, "Thank you".  I know they are trying to make me admit that "life isn't just roses and lollipops". Being nearly seventy years old, I'm well aware that roses also have thorns and lollipops raise blood sugar. I've raised four children, had a painful restricting illness for 45 years, and known many sorrows and disappointments, and, yes, I'm proud to be a "Pollyanna". 


Why? The character, Pollyanna, shows amazing courage, strength of character, and optimism.  This little girl has lost her mother, never had much materially living on charity donations while her father served as a missionary, and then when he died, she is sent to live with a spinster aunt who gives her little love or attention. Instead of letting her life get her down, she looks for the good in every situation and in every person.  She looks for the good even when she is hit by a car and her legs are paralyzed. Through her determination to appreciate what she has and hope for a better future, she changes many lives, making the whole town a better place to live.

Yes, many people think such a reaction is unrealistic. It's true that many people dwell on the negative, giving up hope. They view this as "accepting reality". I've been in some pretty deep pits, and I can assure you that sulking over life's unjustness, grieving endlessly for what you do not have, and bitterly enduring your "thorn in the flesh", isn't going to make you feel better about what has, or has not, happened to you. It is well accepted that thoughts proceed actions and positive thoughts are more likely to result in positive outcomes. Being depressed makes any pain MUCH worse, I know! 

You will say that you can't go around smiling inanely at all the terrible things that happen in your life. No, you will not always be smiling in life. You will feel pain; the pain that comes with loving deeply. You will experience sorrow and grieve. But if you have a big picture of the purpose of life which is to grow toward our full potential, then you can see challenging situations as opportunities for growth - then you can continue to hope and love;  then you can follow Pollyanna's example, and even in tough times, uplift not only yourself, but others. This is why my goal for this next year is to be a "Pollyanna".

*Pollyanna is the main character in the novel Pollyanna by Eleanor Porter, published in 1913