Dear Eternal Optimist,

See, here’s the thing: I want you to just keep doing you. We’ve had a lot—and I mean a lot—of differences, what with you, always looking so positively to the future as you ride off on your cloud of forward thinking, and me, stuck in relentless cynical motion powered by the duo of a crashing present wave and a riptide of the past, the two of us brought together by cataclysmic forces that only inspire us to continue going on the way we are.

I really, really want to dislike you. So much. I mean, obviously—that’s in my nature. You are just so positive: all those pastel themed inspirational quotes and silver lined excursions, my god. Ugh.

But: I need you. I don’t like admitting that, but I do. And you need me.

Because sometimes even my cynicism becomes too cynical for me. Man, sometimes I just . . . can’t. I can’t even deal. That’s where you come in.

As for me, I remind you that no, life is not always fantastic and amazing. You can’t sugarcoat everything, you’ll get diabetes. Gotta throw some kale in the mix. You need to see that in the same way I need to see life actually is pretty fantastic and amazing. You show me despair is not the ruler of my life, but I show you it’s not entirely the evil tyrannical leader you make it out to be.  It’s only kinda sort of an evil tyrannical leader.

The truth is we can’t exist without each other. We’re like the diametrically opposed hot and cold winds necessary to create a hurricane: the more different we are apart, the stronger we’ll be together.

You know what, let's scratch that last analogy because hurricanes are actually quite destructive and obliterate everything in their paths, but I think you get the gist of it, right?

What I'm trying to say is, we keep each other going.

Anyway. I love you.

Ok bye I need to go watch Curb Your Enthusiasm and take some notes.

Sincerely,

Me, Forever Pessimist