The Holiday season is ending - It is that time of the year when decorations are put away for another year. For most people, the holiday season is a time of parties & celebrations with family and friends. We hope you took some time to enjoy the majesty of the season. However, it is a time filled with sadness, self-reflection, loneliness, and anxiety for many. The holidays can be an emotionally exhausting and challenging time, which is especially true during a global pandemic.
As we approach this new year 2022, I think of a message in a song from the Broadway musical Annie: "The sun will come out tomorrow, bet your bottom dollar on tomorrow… Tomorrow is only a day away!" However grim or dark today may seem for some, tomorrow can bring change. Tomorrow is always a new day, and we all have a chance at a new beginning.
I want to take you back 100 years. On June 29, 1922 – Optimist International President Cyrus Crane Willmore of St. Louis gaveled the fourth International Convention to order in Kansas City, Missouri. During that time, Optimists would discover a purpose, a mission, and a creed to guide the future of our Organization. At that convention, Optimists adopted a poem entitled "Promise Yourself" by Christian D. Larson as the official creed of the Optimist Club.
According to President Willmore, "The true Optimist can see beyond the shores of an old ocean, and in his vision can see the needs of the entire world. In fact, the entire world is hungry for the help of the Optimists… The larger our field of cultivation, the greater our harvest will be. If we look upon our International relations with naught but self-interest, we cannot fully realize the right results. We have a name above all names in service clubs. It is not difficult to sell Optimism to the up-to-date progressive man who is born with at least a spark of Optimism that needs to be fanned into a flame by our work."
