Definition Essay: Optimism

Sarah Bohannon
Mrs. Humphlett
Advanced Comp
October 17, 2010
Optimism
When the car flew by the side of mine, I saw the reflection in my side mirror disappear. I became speechless and yet, my head was screaming at the top of my lungs. I pulled to the side of the road to see the damage that was done by the truck that just swiped my car. I stepped out and saw the large scratch that was my passenger door. I looked around and placed my hand on my face. I proceeded to call my mother who’s first response was, “Oh my gosh. Well at least you’re not hurt.” I thought about this as I waited for the police to arrive. My mom was right, I thought to myself. Things could have been a lot worse. This is the day I learned the several different ways the word optimism works.
Optimism. From the Latin word optimus, meaning the best, the word optimism, by definition, means “a disposition or tendency to look on the more favorable side of events or conditions and to expect the most favorable outcome”.   When you think of optimism, what do you think of? Do you think of the happy go lucky people that skip around and sing show tunes? If you said yes, then you are most Americans. When I think optimism, I think of the people who could have possibly been in a car accident and gotten by with their lives.
When I heard about a little boy from my church that had been in a car accident, I could only think of how sad that little boy could have been. I saw him sitting his mom sitting in church the next week. During the “meet and greet” time, I walked up to her, as she was surrounded by other churchgoers. I handed her another tissue and asked how her son was doing. She sniffled for a second or two and cleared her throat for the long speech I was about to hear.
“He’s fine, for now. His dad is with him at the hospital. The doctor says he may not walk again,” she started to get teary eyed as she talked about her son. I looked with sincere concern in her eyes.   “The car accident was really...