If you expect something to turn out bad, it probably will. Pessimism is seldom disappointed. But the same principle also works in _ __ 1 _ ___. If you expect good things to happen, they usually do! There seems to be a natural cause-and-effect relationship between ____ _ 2 _ _ and success. Optimism and pessimism are with powerful forces, and each of us must choose which we want, so as to __ _ 3 _ __ our outlook and our expectations. There is enough good and bad in everyone’s life — ample __ _ 4 __ _ and happiness, sufficient joy and pain — to find a rational basis for __ _ 5 __ __ optimism or pessimism. We can choose to laugh or cry, bless or curse. It’s our decision: From which perspective do we want to view life? Will we look up in hope or __ 6 __ __ in despair? I believe in the upward look. I choose to __ _ 7 __ __ the positive and slip right over the negative. I am an optimist by choice as much as __ _ 8 __ __ nature. Sure, I know that sorrow exists. I am in my 70’s now, and I’ve __ _ 9 __ __ through more than one crisis. But when all is said and done, I find that the good in life is far ___1 0_ ___ and more important than the bad.