The cup is half full.

So lately, I've gotten into a somewhat heated message board argument over the merits of the Toronto Raptors selecting Andrea Bargnani with the first overall pick in the 2006 NBA draft. The person I've been arguing against seems to be a pessimist, since nothing the Raptors are doing appear to show any promise. I, on the other hand, am the optimist. With this pick, the Raptors are laying the foundation for an entertaining and competitive team. You can't help but look forward to the upcoming season. Also, Bryan Colangelo, with his moves, has suddenly given the Raptors and International identity that matches the city they're located in.

In any case, this optimist vs. pessimist thing got me thinking about a joke I heard way back when I was in elementary school. How I remember that, I have no idea, but I'd like to share it:

"A family had twin boys whose only resemblance to each other was their looks. If one felt it was too hot, the other thought it was too cold. If one said the TV was too loud, the other claimed the volume needed to be turned up. Opposite in every way, one was an eternal optimist, the other a doom and gloom pessimist.

"Just to see what would happen, on the twins' birthday their father loaded the pessimist's room with every imaginable toy and game. The optimist's room he loaded with horse manure. That night the father passed by the pessimist's room and found him sitting amid his new gifts crying bitterly. "Why are you crying?" the father asked. "Because my friends will be jealous, I'll have to read all these instructions before I can do anything with this stuff, I'll constantly need batteries, and my toys will eventually get broken." answered the pessimist twin. Passing the optimist twin's room, the father found him dancing for joy in the pile of manure. "What are you so happy about?" he asked. To which his optimist twin replied, 'There's got to be a pony in here somewhere!'"

Now, I may be an optimist, but not nearly to the level of the optimist twin. If someone gave me a pile of horse shit for Christmas, I'd give them the classic WTF look and then who knows what I'd do?!

However, when you have a positive outlook on things, things always do look a lot better.