Diamonds

I am, without question, an optimist. Very intentionally so.

I learnt, as a 15-year-old, the difference between an optimist and a pessimist. I didn’t realise it at the time, but it was a life-defining conversation that will forever shape who I am.

It was a wintry day, wandering along one of my favourite beaches with my Nan. We both loved the beach and loved walking, and I adored my Nan, so these were school holiday days that I very much looked forward to.

I don’t remember how it came up, but I can still hear Nan saying to me “Abbie, some people will look at a glass as half full, some will look and see it as half empty, you can choose which you see”. That was the game changer for me, when she stopped, looked at me and told me I choose whether or not I look on the bright side. It’s a moment that is forever etched on my heart.

Since then, I’ve gone out of my way to be an optimist: finding the silver lining in every cloud, knowing that good that can, and will, come out of bad. No matter what life has thrown at me, I’ve kept going – I’ve found positives because I know they are always there. Yes, sometimes I’ve stumbled around in the fog for a bit, forgetting that the sunshine always follows the storm, but I always get there in the end.

Because I choose to.

I remembered this conversation, this part of me, when I recently listened to Julia Grace’s song ‘Diamond’. I love the story, the lyric.

“Find something deeper
make life a little bit sweeter,
learn to make a diamond out of every stone”.

It’s so good to have a reminder.

Life happens, life is sh*t sometimes. Sh*t happens. We choose how we react, what we see, and how we walk through the storms.

I choose sunshine.

I choose diamonds.