Select Entry- Sara Garfield, Age 25

Welcome to our Optimistic Essay category. Here you will find the $1,000 winning contest essay, 5 finalist essays and 15 honorable mention essays and a growing list of hand-picked select essays that readers submitted during our "Why Are You Optimistic About the Future?" contest.

Everyone knows about Hurricane Katrina. But few still talk about the night that fierce winds and rain battered the port of Galveston, Texas, eventually turning into the debris that contributes to the hurricane reputation of a deadly force of nature. The Storm, as Galveston natives still refer to it, slaughtered nearly 6,000 people that one September night in 1900. More than a hundred years later, the U.S. coastline was ravaged again by a storm much like the great storm of Galveston. But Katrina lasted much longer than one night. Even with all of the warnings issued, she still claimed hundreds of lives. Though we all wanted desperately to offer relief during the storm, no one could stop it. All we could do was wait and watch until it abated. How do we know that another hurricane won't claim thousands of lives in another hundred years? We don't. How, then, can we possibly look forward to a future that holds no certainty?

We must learn to accept circumstances that we cannot prevent. Natural disasters, evil acts of men, and war are among the things contribute to the uncertainty of the present that drives people to write essays on subjects such as the optimistic future. The aftermath of Katrina, the scariness of child molesters, and the terror of terrorism make society seem unstable and the future undesirable. If today's news is shrouded in so much darkness, how can we possibly hope to look forward to tomorrow's news? It's no wonder that the suicide rate is so high! People have been wondering how the future can possibly be bright in light of their present circumstances for thousands of years. Issues like religion in politics, the depletion of natural resources, and the depraved nature of humans have been cropping up in religious discussions, psychological experimentation, and general conversation for as long as man has inhabited the earth. King Solomon of Israel said that there was "nothing new under the sun," and that was thousands of years ago!

Imagine how much more true that statement is today.

So, in light of the troubles of today, what makes tomorrow worth living for? There are gifts in life that reward endurance of the unpleasantness of the

evening news. And it's up to us to find the joy in those gifts. Think about the pleasures the world boasts. Nature, recreation, art, hard work. These things can balance out the negative things the world has to offer. Few things compare with picnicking on the bank of a river or perusing an unfamiliar collection at an art gallery. Most people experience a certain level of satisfaction when they've accomplished a job or built something with their hands, even if they don't like the work itself. There is something about hard work that we innately enjoy. Much of our satisfaction depends upon our paradigm. Even the mediocrity of menial tasks can morph into delight if we simply alter our points of view. Many self help teachers

advocate the employment of "positive thinking." If you can separate yourself from the situation and scrutinize it as a detached party, it will probably seem less overwhelming. It may even seem enjoyable. Though we cannot control

many of the circumstances of our lives, we can control how we respond to those circumstances and therefore increase our amount of satisfaction in the mundane things of life.

Another way to glean expectation of the future from the present is by overcoming our natural fear of the unknown. We do not know what the future holds - there's no way around it. Even fortune tellers and psychic readers

can't guarantee that their predictions are 100% correct all of the time. Since we cannot control our circumstances, we cannot hope to anticipate the

outcome, and that makes us fearful. Will I end up in the hospital with through-the-roof medical bills? Will my parents get a divorce? Will I ever make it through college? Will I lose my job before I retire? Most of us fear what we do not know. And so, most of us find it very difficult to cultivate an attitude of optimism towards the unpredictable future. How can I stop and look at the passing clouds when I know that my son is involved in drugs? I can't visit a museum and look at art when I've got thousands of dollars in credit card bills piling up! Those who work in film and television prey upon

this particular attribute of man by continuing to produce films about larger-than-life disasters, such as Independence Day, Twister, and Armageddon. Why else would Fear Factor be such a tremendous success? Because

we are obsessed with our fears, specifically in this case, world destruction and the disintegration of society. And while the idea of disaster makes for titillating entertainment, the future does not necessarily have to be worse than the present.

If we are to influence the future for good, we must do our best to improve the present. We must make choices with the purpose in mind that those choices will better the future. We have all sorts of options available -mentoring a parentless child, taking our kids to the library, eating lunch with a friendless coworker, paying for somebody's gas. The possibilities stop only at the county line of our imaginations. We must make choices that are others-focused in order to influence society for good. So, you're really

having a hard time with the latest news of child molesters harming children? Call your local representative and see how you can aid legislation against abusers. Don't like the reports of low grades for high schoolers in your

state? Volunteer to be a tutor. You can't control the things you don't like, but you can get involved. You can control how you behave, regardless of your circumstances. The knowledge that we can choose how to act ought to give us tremendous hope for the future. The film Pay It Forward

illustrates this type of response in our troubled society. Find someone who needs help (who doesn't owe you anything) and, without any thought of being repaid, do the thing for them that they cannot do for themselves.

This is a good picture of what gives me the biggest reason to be optimistic about the future - the love of Jesus Christ. I believe that Jesus the Messiah provided a way for everyone who has ever lived to have an exhilarating and perfect future with Him, with no disease, no pain, no problems, no bills, no family problems. I believe that He lived a perfect life 2,000 years ago and willingly sacrificed Himself so that God would be able to forgive people when they asked. Life on this earth will never be perfect, but those who believe in Jesus' ability to reconcile them to God will experience the most wonderful future possible - Heaven.

This essay is about why I am optimistic about the future. God has said that the only way to have a future worth living for is to believe in His Son Jesus Christ and to walk away from a sinful life. I choose to believe it. You don't have to believe it. But it is the only way to know 100% all of the time that the future will be worth living for. Ultimately, I am optimistic about the future because of my faith. I have chosen to believe what God says about the exciting events planned for me. I don't have to worry that society will degenerate. I don't have to wonder if there will be a serial killer or a child molester on the loose in 2006. I don't have to fret that our great nation might suffer another hurricane in 100 years that will make the trauma of Katrina pale in comparison. Because I believe what He has said, I can make choices in the present without the despair attached to the future's uncertainty. And that makes me very optimistic about the future without any room for doubt. The marvelous thing is that anyone can have that same kind of confident expectation that tomorrow will not be just another day, but a better day.