TWIMO...

The World Is My Oyster (TWIMO).... does that sound pompous or optimistic to you?

Shakespeare coined this phrase in the Merry Wives of Windsor Act 2 Scene 2, 2-5 When Sir Falstaff refused to lend Pistol a penny-

FALSTAFF

I will not lend thee a penny.

PISTOL 
Why then, the world's mine oyster,
Which I with sword will open.

I will retort the sum in equipage.

Because both of these characters were obnoxious braggarts the phrase according to enotes.com has become "merely a conceited proclamation of opportunity."

At the risk of sounding snarky, I will disagree with enotes.com. I think it sounds optimistic, hopeful, and positive. The negatrons around me joke that I live on a big puffy white cloud and argue that my glass cannot possibly be that full...but it is.

Blame it on my upbringing. My father, an entrepreneur, listened to Zig Ziglar and motivational tapes almost religiously and consequently so did I.

Here are a few Zig classics....

• Your attitude, not your aptitude, will determine your altitude.
• If you learn from defeat, you haven't really lost.
• If you don't see yourself as a winner, then you cannot perform as a winner.
• Positive thinking will let you do everything better than negative thinking will.

I am thankful that this positive brainwashing and according to the Michael J. Fox special "Adventures of an Incurable Optimist", my genes, secured my mostly optimistic attitude. I am happy with my puffy white cloud, my glass half-full, and my anti-depressant less medicine cabinet. TWIMO!!!

“The world was my oyster but I used the wrong fork - Oscar Wilde”