walt whitman turn your face towards the sun origin

I still don’t know what I want to be when I grow up, but have a nice career that affords me a comfortable lifestyle. Perhaps it’s an opportunity to explore what you really want to be when you grow up. Perhaps it’s time to do some volunteer work or to take some classes (either to improve present job skills or to start something new). If you lose your job, perhaps you can use it as a reason to get a better job, or the same job at a better company. I also worked extra hours during the week and (with permission) counted the extra hours against Friday, so I could leave a little early. Instead of focusing on what I didn’t have, I tried (and mostly succeeded) in focusing on the weekend ahead, and what fun I would have with the wife and kids.

I ended up having to take a job in another town about 2 hours away, and only see my family on weekends. The down side was it was a tight time, both for the sector I worked in, and our household. A few years ago, I lost my job (a cyclical thing). To me, the trick of being an optimist is (drum roll, please) to not focus on the negative. Things tend to go in cycles, so no one expects to be perky and positive for their entire life (unless you have a doctor writing scripts for some interesting medicines). We want to be optimistic, because the opposite isn’t much fun.

Most of the rest of us kind of giggle reading the question. If you are a pessimistic person by nature, you may be asking the question with a straight face. So I accentuate the positive by keeping the sunshine on my face to feel better, and eliminate the negative by facing away from my shadow.

If I go any length of time without clear bright sunshine, I get sad and depressed. I think may be part lizard (or part cat), and love having sunshine on me (up to the point of burning). To me, it is a way of staying optimistic. Put together, facing the sun puts your shadow behind you (you aren’t afraid of your own shadow, are you?). Many people also find the sun on their face to be rather pleasant, when done in moderation. Many people find shadows kind of scary, and they are a metaphor for the things that would bother you if you saw them regularly, or focused on them. Face the sun, and let the shadows fall where they may.

Walt whitman turn your face towards the sun origin