It's easy to say that you are an optimist. It's easy to say that you try to find the good in any situation you encounter, and it's easy to say that you try to find the good in everyone that you meet. For many, doing these things is important. With all of the negativity that we face in our world today, I don't blame people for wanting to see the best side of every situation. I myself have even tried my best to live like this, but what I have found is that it is not a practical way of living. While it may make us feel better about what is going on, it ignores the problems that we are facing, problems which are still there, even if we try to pretend that they are not.

We encounter a lot of people in our day-to-day lives, and these people that we meet are all different kinds of people. Each and every one of us has our own story; we each have our own experiences that have shaped us into the beings that we are today. I think, or I hope, that we can all admit that each of us has our own flaws. None of us are perfect people, and whoever you see as the "perfect person" could probably give you a million reasons as to why they are, in fact, not perfect.

Now, think about what you are doing when you are trying to look past all of the flaws that someone has, when you are trying to see only the good. Well, when you do that you are not letting yourself really know the whole person. Perhaps you are trying to find something to like about someone who has wronged you in the past so that you can attempt to move on. This is admirable, but it needs to be done with caution. I have found that it really is best to forgive, but never to forget, because if we ignore the bad and forget about it, then we will not be prepared to deal with it if/when it happens again.

Finally, the biggest problem I would like to address regarding only seeing the good in people has to do with relationships. When you are in a relationship, especially a new one, you tend to look past the potential issues because you are so excited about this other person and you simply want to focus all of your attention on the positives. This makes the whole experience more enjoyable, sure, but what happens when the relationship is no longer new and you're still ignoring flaws? Soon enough you'll be too far into a situation that you should have seen was not right for you, and that doesn't put you in a good spot.

I'm not saying that you should be a pessimist. I'm not saying that you should nitpick and search for potential flaws in everyone you meet. What I am saying is that it is important to take a step back and try to make sure you are always giving yourself the full picture. Let's be real about the people around us. There is a lot of goodness to be found in all of us, but that goodness does not always give you the full story; there are certain things which we need to do as human beings in order to get by in this world, and being real with ourselves is one of those things.