Panglossian

How tempting to attribute this quality to myself! Panglossian means ' given to extreme optimism, especially in the face of unrelieved hardship or adversity' . Unlike previous words, this doesn't come from an ancient foreign language, but from a character in a play - Voltaire's Dr Pangloss. I AM given to extreme optimism, but I cannot say I have ever had unrelieved hardship or adversity. I like the name 'Pangloss' - giving everything a coat of shiny optimism. My sister Julia said on facebook recently that fantasy needs to meet reality at some point if disaster is to be avoided, and I believe that the panglossian type is not a realist.
However, I am a firm believer that a healthy dose of optimism will carry you further through life than those who don't have any. I know; just believing that a bus will turn up on time doesn't make it happen, but there is plenty of evidence to support the view that optimists live longer than the average pessimist. Hey, wait a moment.... there is plenty of evidence to support the view that pessimists live longer than optimists. I just know that I would rather walk in the sunshine.
Nothing out of the ordinary happened today. I enjoyed my corned beef & pickle sandwich for lunch, and we're having fish & chips for dinner. There's international football on TV, so I don't stand a chance!

 
I popped into Tesco on the way home to buy a terramundi for my holiday savings. It was on special offer at £6, so this is a case of thrift. Not extreme optimism!