Optimism defined

It turns out that optimism comes from the 18th century French word, optimisme and the Latin word, Optimum (best thing).

The word, best, as an ardent realist strikes me; not better, best.

I was surprised to see that the word also entails a big picture belief that the nature of the universe is good and that good will conquer evil.

This concept is made famous by Gottfried Wilhelm von Leibniz' contention that this is the best of all possible worlds.

Of course, for Leibniz the best worlds contention was a necessary link in the reasoning he used to create his Monadology.

Sure, Leibniz was pretty much Newton's punk when it came to calculus, but I still concur with his best worlds contention.

For me, though, it's a question of better rather than best. I don't seek to constantly envision the best outcome. The quest (for me) is to avoid a relentless belief in the worst outcome.

So, my book doesn't need to be a New York Times Best Seller and my golf game doesn't need to challenge Rory McIlroy's. I only need to believe that I can write and play golf better tomorrow than I do today.