Do We Need Some Pollyanas Now?

January 26, 2009

There was a novel and a movie that featured a young girl enduring a disruption in her family and the need to be cared for by a relative. It has been such a long while since I read the story, that many of the details escape me. However, the term "pollyana-ish" did become part of the American vernacular. It meant being optimistic in the face of hardship. Used in a derogatory sense, it implied being unrealistically optimistic.

Since for a least 6 months, we seem to be inundated with doom and gloom, perhaps some positivism might be helpful. Several weeks ago, Time Magazine had an article on some researchers who seemed to have discovered that happiness is contagious. If you live with a happy person, chances are you, too, will be happy as will the people with whom you have frequent contact. Conversely, I suppose, if you are around doom and gloom folks, you will have a doom and gloom outlook.

So.....let's start this week with being "Pollyannas". It will be a challenge, but the economic times that we are in may have the outcome of a stronger and more caring population.