there is another sky, ever serene and fair.

commandment: leave the lights on.

i've always been an optimistic, look-on-the-bright-side kind of girl. i don't just say "anything is possible" just to say it; i really do believe it and believe that anything can happen. it's a genuine belief that whatever you wish for and hold within your heart can in fact occur if it's meant to be.

it probably would have been easy to throw away all the positive thinking after this past year and become a miserable cynic who gets down and stays there. don't get me wrong; i've had my moments. i tried the whole miserable cynic routine myself. it lasted for about a day. really, not even that long. someone out there knows what i'm talking about (the one who always reminds me that i'm the look-on-the bright-side type who can't even begin to pull off the unhappy grump act; "you're not cut out for it"), and that same someone knows, just as i do now, the hopefulness isn't going anywhere.

i'm evermore hopeful that, not only will everything work out as it is meant to, it will all work out better than i could possibly ever imagine. i have to say, there's great comfort in knowing that and, especially, in truly believing that. that hope comes from my family and friends who reassure me every day that everything will be okay, and it also comes from the feeling and the faith i have inside. it's the reason for the smile on my face, the light in my eyes and the never-ending laughter from within.

i know one thing for sure: if this past year didn't knock the optimism out of me, i don't think anything ever will.

"hope is not the same thing as optimism. it is not the conviction that something will turn out well, but the certainty that something makes sense, regardless of how it turns out."