Surgical removal of optimisism

Sometimes I don't listen to myself. I don't listen to anyone. I listen to the little voice in the back of my head that tells me that life is going to be ok, going to work itself out. It has worked out, so far, but I need to stop being so easy-going. I need to stop letting everything just soak in and brushing it aside. I need to speak my mind in a tone that gains respect, not a casual passive sigh. I need to rally, encourage, enrage people's minds, not fill it with the endless relaxed ocean that has never sunk a ship. I need to speak up, branch out, jump over. I need to take each step as if the fires of each star are strewn out on the sidewalk. I need to be larger than life. I can't live in the shadow of those who act upon their minds. I need to shine my own light.