Optimal Optimism

            Are you an optimist?  Do you try to look at the positive side to everything?  If so, do you then kick it up a notch a strive for optimism at the highest level?   That's optimal optimism.  

           If you think about it logically it makes sense to be optimistic.  I like to think about the outcomes of our thoughts and actions.  Realism is right thinking, but we can be optimistic even in the most dire circumstances, and for our good and the good of those around us this optimistic thinking is what keeps us going.

          We have control over our own thoughts.  Even if we have had a lifetime of negative programming which inclines us toward negative (unproductive) thinking, we can eventually train ourselves to become productive positive thinkers.  I invite you to try to persuade me otherwise, but my real challenge to you is to become an optimal optimist.  You will be happier and more productive because of it, and you will influence those around you and help make the world a better place for us all.

           There are many books on positive and optimistic thinking.   I encourage you to investigate some of these and read them if you haven't done so already.   If you have any to recommend please tell us about them in the comment section.  One such book that you should read often is the Bible.  This may be controversial to some of you, but it's difficult to deny that there is a lot of advice in this book on how to think more positively.

            Much of the blogging community offers positivity and optimism.   Let me get to the business of recognizing some bloggers that I often find to be a positive inspiration to me.  I highly recommend that you check out these great ladies and try to absorb some of the sun rays of positive thinking that they usually radiate in their posts.

            Vanessa at Optimal Optimist is a young lady with a brilliant outlook on life.  The title of her blog is the inspiration for my blog post today.   She imparts some wonderfully uplifting messages that can help you see things in a better way.

             Yvonne at Welcome to My World of Poetry is someone with whom many of you are already familiar.  Yvonne knows a thing or two about sorrow and troubling times, but she has also made a decision to overcome these negative energies.   She even wrote a book of poetry about it called  Negative V. Positive: Poems of Life's Experiences .   Her poetry reflects her philosophy of life and offers a pleasant boost for your day.
          
            Ruby at  Blabbin' Grammy  is  perhaps older in years than many of us but younger at heart.  In the year that I've been following her she's gone through what some may have seen as a world of hurt and sorrow, but she has chosen to turn it into a new life of opportunity.   She's got stories and advice that will warm your heart and make you smile.   Here's a lady who seems like she'll never let anything get her down and many of us love her for just that.

            If you don't know these bloggers yet, then please go and say hello to them and start checking out their  blogs on a regular basis.   And I know there are many more positive and optimistic blogs that I have missed.  Please feel free to recommend any that you can think of in the comments below.

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       Now a final update on my neighborhood Borders closing.  As I reported in previous posts, the closing sale offered some pretty decent book deals for me.   This past Saturday (4/16/11) I noted that the signs were announcing the last day of the store being open with all books four for five dollars.  I could not pass up checking out to see what was left.  Here was what I took home Saturday:

Ellen Bryson's  The Transformation of Bartholomew Fortuno
Ace Collins'   Swope's Ridge
Pat Conroy's   My Reading Life
Jonathan Franzen's  Freedom
Susan Froderberg's  Old Border Road
William Gibson's  Zero History
Michael Koryta   So Cold the River
Philip Roth's  Nemesis

All of the books, except for the Collins and Koryta books, were brand new hardback editions--all eight of them for a grand total of ten dollars plus our 10.75% sales tax, part of which is intended to help fund a new state of the art library just a few blocks from my house.  I also picked up a pleasant Sting CD called If On a Winter's Night... for the paltry price of $1.70.  According to my receipt I saved $192.02 which is none too shabby in my opinion.

        Borders is now gone but now I look forward to what will come next.  Will it be a big discount bookstore?  A computer or electronics store?  Perhaps it will stay empty for a while, but in the end it's all good.   We still have Staples, Lowes, Walmart, and a bunch of other stores.

        Life is an adventure and we should do our best to enjoy it.



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A Week Abounding in Blog Surprises

         Things have been changing believe or not.  My clutter is being culled about as quickly as my blog has been changing.  In other words progress is so slow that it's barely noticeable.  That's not really a bad thing in my case because it means a couple of things.  For one thing, I'm being careful about what I do when I make the changes on my blog so I do it right and don't screw anything up.  And the clutter that I am talking about in my house and in my life is not a situation that calls for any kind of intervention.  In other words I'm doing detail work.  Detail takes longer than just running your car through the automatic car wash.

          Also, things are going slow because I am trying to keep up my blog posting and some commenting on your blogs while having some busy summer events coming my way.  Forgive me if I've missed some of your posts of late, but I'm trying to do my best.

               Last Saturday I was reading a lovely post by Jules at Trying To Get Over The Rainbow and I was thinking about how much what she was saying related to what I had been thinking in recent days, then lo and behold here she gives me a shout out.  This was just one of those cool things I had to mention on my blog.  Check out her blog and give her a hello.  I always enjoy reading what she has to say.

           My Tossing It Out Tuesday feature began this past week with the topic of Junk Mail.  Ellie from Ella's Edge showed how one can turn junk into Recycled Treasures-- a far better solution than merely tossing it out.   I don't know if she'll come up with a way to recycle my next topic for this coming Tuesday when I'll be talking about junk e-mail.

            This past week had several surprises for me.  One was Yvonne Lewis's tribute to my Wednesday post, My Grandmother's Air Baths.  If you missed it, check out Yvonne's hilarious poem, Air Baths.  Yvonne always amazes us how quickly she can get a topical poem onto her blog.  Next Wednesday I am going to tell you about the first public performance of one of my musical works.

            As always, I'll be having seven days of eclectic blogism to share with all of you so I hope you'll join me right here at Tossing It Out.

           Alex J Cavanaugh is holding a contest to celebrate reaching 200 followers.  By the time you get there he might already be at 300--excitement about his upcoming book CassaStar is abuzz as the chatter is all over the blogosphere.  And if you haven't seen it yet, check out his CassaStar book trailer.

            On a sad note, Blabbin' Grammy Ruby's husband (Gramps) passed away this past week.  Many of us have been keeping track of Gramps and Grammy's life and know that Gramps has been dealing with a lot of suffering of late.  If you haven't done so already, please stop by to express your condolences to Blabbin' Grammy.   We love you, Ruby, and are praying for you.

            Have a nice weekend and enjoy your summer--it's going fast!