Faster Than the Speed of Darkness

I can extensively rememberan experience I had while I was waiting tables in college as a third-yearbroadcast journalism undergraduate. Thewaitstaff was gathered in the dining room prior to an onslaught of guests wewere expecting that Friday night and the general manager was pacing around likea football coach in a locker room attempting to motivate his team prior to amuch anticipated game against a bitter rival.”His team”, of course being our stealthy unit of servers, andthe “bitter rival”, the Friday night dinner rush at a classy andincredibly popular mid-city eatery. Asour fearless leader , proceeded through his standard protocol hepresented our assembly with a question, “At what moment should you fillthe guest’s tea or water glass?”{{more}} Aneager-to-please high school senior fresh out of training who was beginning hisinitial shifts on the floor raised his hand an responded quickly, “whenthe glass is half-empty, sir.” Ourgeneral manager shook his head from side to side with a somewhat ammused lookon his face, “You’re close but that’s wrong; anyone else . . .?” This of course both suprised and baffled thegroup, as evidenced by the puzzled looksand scatterred stares they exchanged at eachother throughout the room. Amid the considerable length of silence andambitious contemplation throughout our meeting I felt a rush of adrenilanestream into my consciousness: the product of what I was confident to be theanswer the boss was waiting for. “Theproper time to refill our guest’s glass is when it’s half-full”. Glaring at me impressed and excited alike,our GM had received the answer he was hoping one of us would have provided himwith, and before he dismissed us to prep our section for the night hesupplemented my correct answer with a short speech about the importance ofmaintaing a positive attitude and creating an optimistic environment forourselves and those that surround us. That was a very momentous night for me, as I wouldforever attempt to carry that empyrical philosophy with me always, even inspite of struggle and setbacks. Not failures,but setbacks. I have come to notice inthe younger society that I find myself associated mostly with, that mostindividuals in close proximity with my age tend to dwell immensely on negativityin their lives almost to a point of self-destruction. Rather then harnessing a power andstrengthened outlook from their self-perceived devastations, this younger,fresh out of college generation increasingly falters as they attempt to succeedin a working-class America with a current economy of little forgiveness andoppurtunity. Winston Churchill said itbest, “A pessimist sees difficulty in every oppurtunity; an optimist seesthe oppurtunity in every difficulty”.My mother had installed in me at a young age that patience was a virtueand that chance favored those who persist.I was considerably frusterated with this concept at times, however Ihave grown to experience that in almost every situation I find a steady degreeof difficulty with, maintaining a positive state of mind alleviates theseverity of any potential failure. Theby-product of this approach is the underlying notion that failure is indeedfundamental to success. Through social networking devices I have been able tokeep up with a large majority of peers that I was in college or high schoolwith and I have come to notice that a significant amount of them are notworking at all, or working at jobs that have little or no promotionaloppurtunity and are outside the horizon of the aptitude in which they studiedintensely for the desire to perform within.The common denominator apparently proving to be that they’ve created amountain out of a mere molehill standing in their way to succeed and haveeasily given up completely or swayed with aggrivation toward a less-promisingcareer far beyond that of their ever-lingering dreams. This disheartening concession among theyoung-generation spreads virally throughout society faster than the speed ofdarkness. Not light, but darkness,because without an attitude of optimism there is no brilliant light toaccentuate our vision to be brilliant and gain fulfillment in our everydayefforts to achieve the ‘American Dream’.   Thisis indeed saddenning, however the solution is ever-eager to reveal itself aslong as the problem is veiwed in its proper depths. On an upside, I have recognized that the fewpeers of mine that are thriving happily in today’s platform have been verypatient and persistent, not only rolling with the punches they’ve been thrownbut considering them blessings to learn from.A failure translates to a minor setback and room for growth. A loss is perceived as an inheritance ofvacancy for a more promising dispatch, and discouragement equates as motivationto prove the pessimist wrong. Epictetus,an ancient Greek sage and stoic philosopher who was born a slave and surgedsuccesfully out of bondage to live his dreams as a teacher said that “Menare disrupted not by things that happen, but by their opinion ofthings that happen.” With thatnotion pressing firmly in your mind, attack life’s “dinner-rush” withan attitude of optimism, and regardless of situation and setback, please,remember always; the glass is half-full