Optimism is Contagious

Have you ever seen a cuter bum?

The past few days I have been reflecting on a few moments from my youth. I remember thinking that I would always be a kid. One of my fondest memories was our first backpacking trip with my dad. We loaded up the green VW bus with all the backpacking gear. Those present were Rachel, Sarah, myself, Jared, and of course, my dad. It was a three day weekend and so we planned to spend it backpacking. With stout spirits and high hopes of adventures, we set off up the rocky trail. We began to sing as we hiked but soon grew winded and just hiked. We laughed a long the trail. Sarah and Jared prided themselves on being the fastest hikers and my dad accepted he was the slowest. Rachel and I ended up somewhere in the middle. A long the trail we would stop and hydrate. Dad was always reminding us. I remember seething with jealousy that my scrawny little brother Jared (who, by the way, I could beat up) was a faster hiker than me. He was only 8 but man, that kid could hike. When we reached the camping spot we set up the tents and started a fire. We were thrilled to be there. After singing around a fire for hours, we finally went to bed. I had no idea what time it was when I woke up but it was not light outside. I was drenched. I could hear the rain on the tent. I woke up Sarah. She was drenched too. I unzipped my sleeping bag and found about 2 inches of water pooled inside our tent. Everyone was awake. My dad tried hurriedly to fasten the rain flies but they did not seem to do any good. We were all soaking wet. We had to tough it out. We tried our best to sleep wet but non of us slept hardly at all. When it became light we came out of our tents. Dad was up getting some hot water ready for us to have oatmeal. We all ate soaked to the bone. We were having a great time. Sarah began to bellow a silly song and we all sang a long. We talked about what an adventure we were having. The next day we packed up to hike back to the car. The whole way back we sang and sang. Our packs were completely waterlogged and so heavy we could hardly walk. We laughed and carried on as we hiked on the rain.

As I reflect on this story I think about the fact that optimism is contagious. This life is so short and there are so many that need help being optimistic. Trials and hardships may come and that is why we need each other to lean on. Every change you get, have fun, sing, and spread the optimism!