Listen up Pollyannas of the world: A dose of pessimism may do you good.
—Wall Street Journal, A Perfect Dose of Pessimism
Amen to that, says this cheerful pessimist. A reasonable amount of pessimism encourages us to avoid excessive risks and to plan for the future — it helps us live longer. It doesn’t mean we have to be gloomy or feel helpless — instead it can be motivating. What do you think?
August 6, 2014
I quite agree.
🙂
I am a Pessoptimist.
Yes, it’s not either or.
LOLOL!!! i love that!
i’m a pessoptimist too.
plus… nobody likes a pollyanna all the time… just like nobody likes a pessimist all the time. the secret is to blend. and the word pessoptimist is fun to say!
Love your & Ramana’s comments. 🙂
Yes, pessoptimist is a good term.
I still prefer cheerful pessimist, because most people think pessimism is gloomy. Not for all of us. Not by a long shot. When Kaitlin was born she was such a miracle I was convinced she wouldn’t make it to her first birthday. It wasn’t a morbid thought, it just meant I didn’t take her for granted and made the most of that first year. It was enriching. The same with Andy and I right now. We’re bound to have some serious health problems in the next 10 to 15 years, but that doesn’t mean we have to worry. It just means not taking the present for granted.
Better a continually surprised pessimist than a continually disappointed optimist (?)
Yes, I am continually surprised, and I love it!
I think there’s a difference between always assuming the worst will happen (pessimism) and on the other hand thinking the worst and the best are just as likely but worrying that things might go badly (appropriate term yet to be coined). I’m not a pessimist but I do worry about things going badly.
There’s not much point in planning for the future if you think it’s bound to be bad. But if you’re merely worrying that it might be, then planning can help.
That sounds like a good analysis. I’m obviously not as pessimistic as I pretend. 🙂
I try to be an optimist but when I was a little kid my mother filled my head with all the possible horrible things that could happen to me and my little sister. Then she made me responsible for watching over my sister. The result was me, the constant worrier , fretting about anything and everything and my sister, carefree and sure that everything would work out fine.
and yes…all these years later, we still approach life in our in the roles we assumed as children.
But Hey! I’m really working on being a cheerful pessimist!
😉
My mother was a worrier, and it took me years to train myself out of being one too. It’s well worth the effort!