#5 A Penny Makes You Richer

Is that glistening copper color from the grey monotonous sidewalk an omen? It's just a penny though, not worth picking up and getting your hands dirty. This is a valid concern, but an optimist see's it as a chance to be a richer person regardless of the amount. Is anyone really too good for a penny that has brandished itself out of nowhere? Definitely not! Nobody is too good for free money. Plus, rumor has it that it costs more than a penny to make a penny. When life gives you pennies you do what? Make money!

#4 An Optimist Will Live Anywhere

It is undesirable to live so close to freeways or airports, but to a half-full kind of person it just means easier access to transportation! In the 1997 Australian film, "The Castle", Darryl Kerrigan is the epitome of what it means to be an optimist. He views every undesirable outcome as a new opportunity, especially when he has industrial power line in his backyard "that reminds him of man's ability to generate electricity". The roaring jet engines blasting throughout his backyard don't threaten Darryl's quality of life because he is content with simple things. A roof over his head, a happy marriage, and a family that he is "proud as punch" about. Darryl's excitement about life demonstrates that an optimist doesn't ask for particulars such as a home that has x square feet at the desired location. An optimist is happy to own a home wherever and whatever it may be.

#3 An Optimist Parks Far Away

It can be quite disappointing to pull into your local grocer and find that after your second time around the parking lot there are no openings. Pity. For the optimist, parking far away is a preferable outcome. Get that walk in, breathe the fresh air for a moment, and maybe even meet a friend on the way to the entrance! Also, don't forget that the probability of a cart bashing into your car is exponentially lower since an optimist's car is in the back, free from the condensed and dangerous phantom ramming carts. Embrace the walk, the talk, the air.

#2 Treat Broken Items as Puzzles!

The inventor of the puzzle could have been a renaissance grotto painter whose work crumbled to pieces and reassembled it or it could have been a stained glass window maker whose works shattered and then reassembled it. They were definitely an optimist whoever they were. Somehow great joy comes to many when they assemble a puzzle. A puzzle defined by a non-optimist is a picture that is broken into pieces. Do people enjoy putting together their broken items? For the most part no, but to the optimist it is a definite YES! It's just a puzzle! Computer in pieces? Well now it is a tactile howstuffworks learning experience or your own DIY private mosaics class. On the bright side, you can now see the inner workings of man's ability to create sophisticated technology while enhancing your personal manual dexterity and technical prowess. Of course people are saddened by the loss of their mint-state personal items, but hey there is only one way to positively look at life's inevitable breakages.

#1 When the Wrong Order Excites You

A lot of people might be upset to find that their order of a grilled chicken sandwich has been replaced by an illegitimate double cheeseburger at the drive-thru. What is this foreign entity sitting in my bag? Who was the meddlesome employee who changed my order? But to the optimist, this is gold. This is the opportunity to allow your gastronomic preferences to live vicariously through a mysterious person's order. Who were they? Where were they going? This mystery is too exciting. You don't question the mistake of the restaurant because this is a spontaneous gift of life. This cheeseburger is a temporary escape from one's digestive identity. Plus, an optimists diet is flexible. Capitalize on culinary misfortunes, especially when it is a spontaneous change of routine.