Pessimist, Optimist, or is it Hope?

I remember when I was in high school there was a sticker we had on a wall in our house that said "Optimist - Good Morning God! Pessimist - Good God, it's morning!" I always wanted to be more of an optimist and in those days when I began to discover God's role in my life more and more my optimism was boosted for a season. I remember one of my classmates wrote me a note one day saying "thanks for teaching me to always look at the bright side of things."

However, I wouldn't say that I'm much of an optimist today. I've noticed that I tend to see the negative side of situations often. I think the shift in my attitude can somewhat be attributed to confronting the injustices and realities of the world we live in. Yet, does this mean I should always choose to see these negatives? Is it okay that when I walk through Pasadena High School what I notice is all the kids ditching, talking about smokin', making out, and cussing each other out?

I feel like my roommate is a great example of an optimistic person. She knows how to see the good in any situation. I was really starting to get mad at myself for feeling like too much of a pessimist. But at the same time I felt like I was not keepin' it real if I was optimistic. I felt like I was pretending things were good when they were not.

Then my roommate told me what one of the other interns said to her. He said something to the effect of "I don't think Christians are called to be optimists nor pessimists. We are called to have hope." We are called to have hope..hmmm. Now that, I think I can accept. So it's not that I shouldn't see the ugliness and negativity of some situations nor that I shouldn't find the already existing positive within those situations, but instead, I should recognize the negatives and positives and have hope that change can happen. Hope that God can move, God can intervene, and justice can be administered.