The pessimist claims that “things cannot be worse”, the optimist responds, “of course, they can”. There are many stories about optimists and pessimists. One of them describes how much water is in the cup. The optimist says the cup is half full, while the pessimist claims that it is half empty. I think that even staunch optimists have their moments of doubt. But then there is another way of thinking and being. Some people just know without any doubts that everything is going to be alright. It is well demonstrated in the Talmud story describing Nahum Ish Gamzu. Regardless what was happening, his response was “gam zu le-tovah”, meaning “this too is for the best”.
Years ago, I heard the story about a man who had a similar attitude. He had a beautiful horse. One day, the horse ran away. All of the neighbors had pity on him, and his response was, “We shall see”. A few days later, the horse returned with a herd of wild horses. The neighbors expressed how lucky he was. The man responded, “We shall see”. His only son tried to mount the wild horse, fell down and broke his leg. The neighbors had pity on the man. But the man just said, “We shall see”. Soon after, war broke out and military recruiters came to the village and collected all abled young men leaving the boy with the broken leg behind. After the war ended, many were killed, but the boy was alive with a healed leg.
In our family, my wife Elfa is a realist – she analyzes all of the possibilities, and tries to protect us from negative outcomes.
When we drive somewhere and are looking for a parking space, she uses a special “parking” prayer. My attitude is different. I do not think or worry about finding a parking space. And frequently, when we get to our destination, someone pulls out and gives us the spot (perhaps Elfa’s prayers help?).
I do not think about the cup being full or empty. I just know when I am thirsty there is going to be water. Perhaps this is why to the question “How are you?” my answer is “Always good.”
We recently closed a loan for clients, who inherited their home. The wife does not work, and the husband was in between jobs when we met, with a bunch of late payments and collections and a credit score of 512. At the beginning, I had no idea how I could help them. But just believing that everything would be alright, I found a creative solution and saved them from losing their home to foreclosure and in a few months will arrange a reverse mortgage, which will help them to keep it.
When I started writing this story, I had no idea which images I would use to accompany it. It was 7 am, and it was dark outside. By the time I finished writing, I looked outside, and saw a blue sky. The meteorologist told us that it is going to be raining. Though we need rain, I was very happy to stay dry today. For me knowing that regardless of an expert’s prediction, every morning the sun will come out (even if we do not see it), makes me happy. This is probably why I like to photograph sunrises.
P.S. On Sunday morning I was planning to go up Mount Davidson, to photograph the sunrise. Because of the time change, I was half an hour late. The sun was already up and the fog was rolling in. This gave me an opportunity to photograph sunrise in a completely different light. Enjoy and share.
Do Not Keep Me As A Secret!
Smile And Please SHARE It With A Friend!
Cheers,
