A couple of weeks ago I had the opportunity to listen to Life is Good CEO Bert Jacobs give a talk at the Gartner Digital Marketing Conference out in San Diego. As a guy who founded a lifestyle brand based on optimism, you would expect nothing less than a feel-good talk. 

The way he presents his story about how Life is Good was started is slightly irreverant and highly entertaining. They started out selling t-shirts out of the back of their van and now they do $100 million a year in revenue. The art work isn't highly detailed or complex - actually borderline elementary. However, it exudes an attitude that life really is good. 

Bert and his brother's decision to spread an optimistic brand came from a conversation they were having about the news. Everything they saw being reported was something negative. Someone was being bombed. There was disease somewhere else. This person was killed. Etc. They felt like the media permeated this sense of dread and fear into our daily lives and they wanted to do something to change the curb. 

Some would say that being optimistic is just not being a realist. That being optimistic and looking at the good in life is a way to stick your head in the sand and not face reality. However, here are a few stats that Bert Jacobs share that are also bits of reality that we rarely hear about. One of those stats included: 

I could talk more about his talk but I'll let a few of these tweets from his speech do more of the talking. 

So really, there is a lot to celebrate in life. There are bad days and honestly life really sucks sometimes. Megan and I have faced our fair share of less-than-ideal life moments in the last two years that could have dragged us down. However, despite having several negative life experiences, we've also had a lot go our way. We have a roof over our heads, good jobs, awesome pets and a baby on the way. Bad things happen but our disposition towards them helps us keep moving. 

It's important to face those negative moments head on but also important to not let those moments define you. There's a lot to be thankful for, even if it doesn't feel that way at the time. 

Life is good.