It occurred to me last night, out of nowhere, that I could not remember anyone ever uttering the phrase, "It will be alright" to me. I searched my memory for hours, trying to remember the times I had heard the phrase in the past and at no point could I remember anyone telling me that. Of course, this seems unlikely. Still, if someone had told me that and everything had turned out alright, I probably would have remembered.

I can say with 95% surety that during my teenage and adult life, no one ever uttered the phrase. And what an odd phrase it is. It isn't that I miss having heard the phrase - I seem to have done quite well without it. Maybe it is that no one thought that they needed to say it to me. Or maybe no one was ever confident enough in a situation that I was in that they would say it.

But I found that I have said it many times to people over the years. That when things turn bad, people suddenly remember my name... and somewhere along the way, I tell some of them it will be alright depending on the circumstance. If you get a cut that will heal, it will be alright. If someone separates your neck and head, it is unlikely that it will be alright. If it is something I can fix, it will be alright. If it is something I cannot fix, it can be alright.

Even so, I do wonder why it is that I cannot remember someone uttering the phrase to me. Is it because people turn to me when things go sour and expect that I will soldier through my own problems accordingly and need no words to cheer me on? I do not know.

What I do know is that nothing is ever alright. Whatever happens, it simply has to be alright. Optimism and pessimism are for those that like to argue with their opposites; practicality dictates that the glass by nature is always full - unless in a complete vacuum.

How one decides to view the glass does not matter. What matters is the reality of what is in the glass.