Optimism and pessimism are with powerful forces, and each of us must choose which we want, so as to shape our outlook and our expectations. There is enough good and bad in everyone’s life — ample sorrow and happiness, sufficient joy and pain — to find a rational basis for either optimism or pessimism. We can choose to laugh or cry, bless or curse . It’s our decision: From which perspective do we want to view life? Will we look up in hope or down in despair?