Protecting My Delusional Optimism at All Costs

Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about how the energy we put out has a way of circling back. So when I came across a reel the other night that honestly spoke to my soul, it felt… timely. Jolie Steel was talking about how you can accomplish “damn near anything you want,” but how you go about it matters just as much as getting there.

You can push, force, hustle, control — all fear-based — and yes, you might reach your goal. But you won’t feel calm once you arrive. You’ll still be gripping everything tightly, waiting for something (anything) to go wrong.

Or you can move through life with trust — opening, allowing, receiving, believing things will come together without micromanaging the universe. And when you get there from that place, you actually get to enjoy it. That idea hit me in all the right places.

A little while later, I stumbled on a TikTok from Lucie Fink about how her mom used to tell her, constantly, “You’re so lucky. Good things just happen to you.” Even about the tiny things. And how that shaped her whole attitude, not because her life was perfect, but because she learned to expect that good things would find her.

It made me think about my own default settings. I’ve always been a positive person. I joke that I wear rose-colored glasses when it comes to other people, but it’s true: I look for the good. And I don’t plan on losing that part of myself. Infertility, and losing one of my best friends to breast cancer, taught me that life can be brutal... and somehow still full of bright spots, even in the darkest moments.

For me, it really comes down to this: the energy you put out tends to be the energy you get back. And I’m choosing to keep putting out something hopeful.