Monday, June 6, 2011

The Backhanded Optimist

I've never really considered myself a glass is half full kind of gal. When bad news comes my way, I tend to react like a soap opera actress, an exquisite blend of tragedy and drama with lots of sobbing and grande gestures thrown in for good measure.

But inevitably as I begin to process the news, things start changing, and within a few days disaster turns into delight. The most recent example of my backhanded optimism in action is when my husband and I decided that it might be time for me to go back to the day job.

Day 1

Husband: Well, if we want to move into a bigger house I think you'll probably have to go back to work.
Me: *Sobbing too hard to respond*
Husband: You worked before, was it really that bad?
Me: Sob gasp sob...writing. Sob gasp sob...neglected children. Sob gasp sob...END OF MY LIFE.
Husband: ....

Day 2

Me: So, I happened to talk to my old manager today and there's a job opening that sounds kind of perfect.
Husband: That's great.
Me: Whatever. I still hate you.

Day 6

Me: The interviews went REALLY well. This is going to be great! It was so nice to catch up with everyone that I used to work with and have a quiet house. I could totally get used to this.
Husband: ....

Day 25

Random friend: So, you're going back to work!
Me: Yeah. I decided that I'd have way more balance in my life if I went back to work. More time to write, the kids are thrilled to be able to go to camps and stuff. I think it's going to be the best of both worlds.
Random friend: Good for you!
Me: I know. Best decision I ever made.
Husband: Sigh.

And, that, my friends, is how you rewrite history. What's funny is that I don't even realize I'm doing it. End up with a book cover you hate? Make a couple of tweaks, write a blog post, add faux pink hair to your profile pic as a joke and take full credit for being a marketing genius! Who needs real optimism when the backhanded version is so much more fun?

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Don't forget, this is also day one of the Elana Johnson POSSESSION Launch Festival of Awesome! Today, go to Beth Revis's site and comment to enter to win a signed copy of POSSESSION and learn the secret time that you need to use the Twitter hashtag #taggedPOSSESSION to win another signed copy of POSSESSION!


We're giving away 17 signed copies of POSSESSION throughout this week's blog tour--be sure to visit and enter to win! Tomorrow's giveaway will be hosted at right here!

9 comments:

Dianne K. Salerni said...

Heh, heh, heh ... pretty funny -- that re-writing history. Before you know it, you'll be invited to join the Texas School Board.

Good luck with the new day job. It's not so bad, and it does fill the hours of the day -- and prevent you from getting carpal tunnel syndrome while writing and blogging all day.

Matthew MacNish said...

At least now I can't hate you for having plenty of free time to write (assuming enough child neglect was occurring).

Bethany Elizabeth said...

Awesome point! I'm kind of the same. What I really need after bad news is processing time. :) That's about it.

Talli Roland said...

Haha! I could *so* recognise myself in this!

Marsha Sigman said...

My sister soulmate.lol

I am an expert at the backhanded surrender. My first reaction to anything is always 'Oh, hell no'. But give me a few days to get used to the idea and if it's valid I totally cave.

This does not apply to writing, only to children and money matters.lol

Krispy said...

I like your version of optimism. It's awesome because even if you start out completely freaked out, you end up happy!

Jemi Fraser said...

That's hysterical! I'm going to have to think about whether I do this or not!

Rebecca T. said...

*snrk* I definitely do this. But hey, at least we come around, right? We could just stay depressed about things. ;)

Dawn Kurtagich said...

Ha! Love it :P

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