Pollyanna (movie, 1963): “A young girl comes to an embittered town and confronts its attitude with her determination to see the best in life.”
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0054195/
I’m 51 years old and I’ve felt like that young girl my whole life. I have made an art out of trying to see the best in everything and everyone I encounter. And most people really are good at heart.
But some people suck.
Sometimes it’s SO hard to see the best. Watching the news you see so many people behaving horribly. Turning to social media you see so many people treating each other badly. Looking at other tables in a restaurant, you see people looking at their phones instead of each other. I try to give people the benefit of the doubt as often as possible. Politics divide, but people usually mean well. Staring at our phones doesn’t make us bad people…just kinda “checked out” people.
But then there are hackers. I’m convinced that if the internet existed when Dante wrote Inferno, he’d have created a 10th level just for hackers.
So I clean up the chaos that others leave for me. I try to see the other side when people don’t agree with me. And when I’m completely flabbergasted and at my wits’ end, I remember that it could always be worse, and that even in the throes of utter destruction, others have been far more generous with their thoughts about others that I sometimes am.
“Despite everything, I believe that people are really good at heart.”
Anne Frank, Diary of a Young Girl
So, in spite of naysayers or those who just don’t understand my positive outlook, I will continue to be a Pollyanna. I will continue to give the benefit of the doubt. I will continue to hope for the best in life, and expect the best in people.
Except hackers. They can writhe in the 10th circle.
Be kind (except to hackers),
~Michelle