There are a zillion characteristics I can think
of when I categorize the American people, but the one that strikes me the most
is our optimism. I know sometimes that optimism can teeter on the edge of delirium,
but in the end, I think being optimistic is the best way to live. I know that
many of my European friends view Americans as naïve, not fully aware of the
negative aspects of the natural world and the human condition, but I don’t
believe that to be the case at all. Certainly, our optimism springs from our
very reason of being in this country as immigrants at all. Many of our
ancestors and our neighbors came to this country out of desperation and a need
to escape unspeakable terrors and while everything here was not hunky dory,
they were able to scratch out a life for themselves and their children. They
were able to make things better, they came here with hopes and dreams, and many
of those things worked for them. So yes, Americans have been born of optimism
and they work with that in mind.
It’s not to say that there aren’t plenty of
pessimistic Americans, chief among them can be me, but Americans believe in
working to attain the positive. In fact, sometimes we tend to believe we are so
right about how to do something that we bulldoze over every other idea when maybe
we shouldn’t. Right now, our politics are so divided because of this, and we certainly
caused some evil wars because of our optimistic belief we were right, so
sometimes American optimism can be a negative thing. But what I really appreciate
and value about American optimism is that kind of Job aspect of never giving
in, never cursing God and dying. That is kind of amazing when all people know
that the end result of our individual lives is going to be death. Americans won’t
just roll over and accept that. We migrate to new places, we fight for our
rights, and we persevere. I am grateful for that.
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