[Blessings2You]

My daughter recently asked me, "Is it possible to have a conversation with you where you don't say, 'Well, at least'?" I answered, "Apparently not." I can't help it. It's who I am. Not Pollyanna--not by a long shot. More like Eeyore, I'm sorry to say. It might not exactly be looking on the bright side, but sometimes it's the best I can do.

My latest example: I almost fell in the basement, on a concrete floor. I wasn't even doing anything stupid, just turning around. My left foot didn't lift and/or turn, and I knew I was falling. Somehow I managed to grab something to stop myself, but at the same time I felt something...crunch?...rip?...in my foot.

I was so relieved at not falling and surely breaking something crucial, that it took me a few seconds to realize that the crunchy ripping feeling was an actual injury. It hurts like mad if I step a certain way, but right away I found myself thinking:

Well, at least I didn't fall!

Well, at least it's my left foot, so I don't need it to drive!

Well, at least it's my bad foot (arthritis-killed ankle) so I don't have to figure out how to limp on both feet.

Well, at least I don't have to go anywhere for the next couple of days.

Well, at least I don't live alone.

Well, at least it happened AFTER church. And not AT church.

And so on. I don't know if I cracked something or sprained something. I'm not happy about it, but it could have been a lot worse. I realize that "Well, at least" is not always well-received when used to point out the bright side of somebody else's problems. I guess it's something that's best self-directed.

It always worked for my mother. She wasn't minimizing trials and suffering, just trying to find something even remotely positive to keep a bad situation from looking worse than it had to. You know, pointing out the silver lining while not denying it's a cloud. Well, at least you had your umbrella. Well, at least you have car insurance. Well, at least you'll have an even number of children. Well, at least you still have your sense of humor....

[Starznight]

Well at least, you're in good company . My mother and I suffer from the same issue I guess. I'm not a particularly positive person either, which isn't to say I view the world as all doom and gloom, more what I consider an optimistic pessimist. For me the glass is never half full, or half empty... it's at least half a glass.

My mother and I are so bad at the 'at least' game that we seem to enjoy a fun competition at times without ever setting it up as one, it just snowballs that way and can get quite hilarious when you really get us going.