“We should try to be happy, just to set an example.” — Jacques Prevert

I make no secret of my disregard for the miserable. It’s not that I disdain them, it’s more that I choose to avoid their glass half empty view of living as much as I possibly can. Just because someone chooses to make misery soup doesn’t mean we have to slurp it up. Push it to the side and savor something delightful instead.

There are plenty of opportunities to be miserable in a lifetime. Why consume it? Why seek it out? Life will delivery our share of setbacks, misery and horror. That’s part of being alive, after all. Live long enough and we’re sure to take two steps back. Heck, we may slide all the way to the bottom and have to start again, like Sisyphus forever pushing his rock up the hill. We can choose to wallow at the bottom or begin to climb once again.

There’s no joy in wallowing at our lowest point—we must push ahead. Does that prevailing attitude make me an optimist, or simply anti-fragile? Call me pragmatic, but something better is always a climb above where we currently lie. The good news is, we at least know which way to go.