Focus On The Donut, Not The Hole

My daughter loves donuts. She also loves calling me a reckless optimist. I think this week’s headline covers both of those matters. The line popped up in a paper I read last week for class on trauma and grief. The quote struck such a chord with me that I did some digging. I found Smithsonian Magazine’s excellent article about the history of the donut and kept searching. Eventually I found this charming reference to the source of the quote. In 1939, near the end of The Great Depression, a poem titled "The Optimist's Creed” was printed on a menu for Cleveland’s long shuttered Mayflower Donut Shop. The menu artwork includes this homily:

“As you ramble through life, brother,

Whatever be your goal,

Keep your eye upon the doughnut,

And not upon the hole.”

It's timely today. For the past five days I’ve been digesting some news about a close friend who is about to undergo chemotherapy, and this quote popped back into my head and keeps echoing. The good stuff, the donut, is that my friend is relatively young and fit. The hole is… well, the whole thing. I can’t look at the hole. We are trying hard to focus on the donut. It’s actually helped. (It’s also stirred a craving that may require a drive to Brewnuts this week. Donuts & Beer. It’s genius. Jump on our Friday Zoom call to hear how that turns out!)

My point is this: 2023 is barely underway and the year is already handing out plot twists. It's time to make the donuts and keep focused if we’re going to get through this. We've just got to keep it all in perspective.