"JMHO, but anyone who cannot see this kind of thing coming has some massively tinted rose-colored glasses on.
The knowlege doesn't keep me from living a very happy life. It just makes me work a little harder, and play a little harder as well! "
Wow - that's the first time I've ever been accused of being an optimist!
I try to live the way you do in your 2nd paragraph, just because life only comes once.
For me, it's just that every generation of people in history felt that they were living in "end times" for lack of a better word...and since all of them were proven wrong..well, I'm a stats guy so you know what I'm saying here.
I am glad you live that way. I certainly try to, but pray I will be able to do what the Lord requires of me -- in good times or in bad.