The Optimists Club that Imploded

I went to my business networking meeting this morning, usually an upbeat experience despite trekking across southeast Michigan to what feels like the farthest outpost to still qualify as "Ann Arbor." Today was really no different, though that darn elevator speech of mine still needs work! One of my co-networkers talked about some event with a club where he holds the presidency, The Optimists Club, and someone asked him about the club's branch in Manchester. "The Manchester club broke up a few years ago...politics...lots of fighting..." I thought this was really funny, the inability of a bunch of optimists to get along.

What the heck is the Optimists Club anyway? It seems like it would be a club full of happy, nice, positive people, so how did an entire branch implode? Are they like the rest of us after all, or worse, like the people who shop at Whole Foods...I used to operate under the impression that the people who shop at Whole Foods are (a) happy because they get to eat super-healthy super-vitamin super-foods devoid of the toxins us Kroger people regularly ingest, and (b) happy because they have enough money to shop at Whole Foods! I found out quickly that both (a) and (b) were just textbook examples of me being misguidedly optimistic about the qualities possessed by others, a fault I must admit as an incurable Pisces. After several trips to Whole Foods (usually only to get Redwood Hills Farms Goats Milk Yogurt - worth the trip! See http://www.redwoodhill.com/). I realized that Whole Foods shoppers are just like everyone else, but worse...a little more self-absorbed at the helm of the cart, a little more pushy in the parking lot (We have yoga and meditation classes to get to, people!). Okay, so maybe my own lower-middle-class jealousy-tinged bias colors my judgment, but the point is, I will never join a club with a name that forces me to call attention to the fact that at times I have little reason to be optimistic about my fellow human beings. Better to join a group with Network in the name, populated by the surly, the tardy, the sleepy, the average, and be pleasantly surprised when the same demonstrate their kindness, their generosity, their humor, and their greatness. Let's not call out these qualities with a label demanding an attitude that a human being cannot possibly always maintain, but quietly work toward the good...to me, that is truly optmistic.

So, soapboxing aside, a name is just a name, and I have no idea what the Optimists do or what their mission statement is. And after hours on the Internet today, I have no desire to search out the answer that is no doubt at the tip of my fingers. Rather, I choose to speculate about this poor club who never did anything to me...aaahh, the power of the Internet.

This topic really derives from my own inability to be optimistic right now. I never like the night of the State of the Union address, but especially dislike this year...please hold the applause...and please don't give standing ovations (never mind a Nobel Peace Prize) until I have health insurance, a steady stream of income, a decent home value, and the assurance that the Great Lakes fishing industry won't be destroyed within a year for a certain somebody's hometown politics! (See http://www.nwf.org/News-and-Magazines/Media-Center/News-by-Topic/Wildlife/2010/01-06-10-Obama-Administration-Miscalculates-Risk-Asian-Carp-Pose-to-Great-Lakes-Economy.aspx). And if I can't have any of these things right now, then I'm going to skip the speech, watch something on Netflix, and wait for the sunshine.

The Thaw

I write this post in a mood of optimism. I have moved into a physical office, have a potential client visiting me tomorrow at said physical office, and most importantly, the physical world all around me is being nice - a relatively balmy temp in the high 30s and the days are already getting longer! I love it. I do hope we get another good snow soon, though, because Fiance and I are itching to check out the cross-country ski offerings of our fair winter wonderland. We had a good snow last week, but spent Saturday morning researching cross-country skiing options and by the time we were set, the day was gone. Life moves at you pretty quick...not much time to debate, just do it.

My college football fan-dreams ended two weeks ago in defeat. The beloved Texas QB Colt McCoy ended the last game of his college career 56 gameclock minutes early, leaving a true freshman QB to struggle through what I hope will be the toughest game of his college career (of his college and pro career, why not?). Despite my sadness at the game results, I and probably most other Longhorn football fans felt a little upended by the crazy game. Without Colt, we were left to ponder what would have been...but none of that pondering went on for me until after the game ended, and even then I pondered swiftly and dismissed it, because you've got to play the game you suited up for, no matter the consequences, not the game you hoped would take place. I think a lot of people get off track in their lives because they see a game played on another field - Hollywood, whatever - and want to play that game, not the one they suited up for, the one right in front of them. So they waste time thinking about the other, better game that they would be winning if only...and don't focus on the one they've averted their eyes from. I've been guilty of that, probably every person has. The important thing is to wake yourself up, get your head straight, and play your own game on your own terms, and respect yourself because you did the best you could do.

So I took from that game (Texas v. Alabama, by the way) the lesson that you can't win them all, you have to respect the winner (or else how can you respect your own performance?), and you have to move on. Like McCoy. One week he loses the most important game in college football. The next week he gets engaged. Not a bad turnaround.

...And college basketball is in full swing...Hook 'em Horns!