I pulled this from the Wikipedia site:
"Pessimism, from the Latin pessimus (worst), is the decision to evaluate, perceive and view life in a generally negative light. Value judgments may vary dramatically between individuals, even when judgments of fact are undisputed. The most common example of this phenomenon is the "Is the glass half empty or half full?" situation. The degree in which situations like these are evaluated as something good or something bad can be described in terms of one's optimism or pessimism respectively. Throughout history, the pessimistic disposition has had effects on all major areas of thinking.[1]"
I have been talking to a friend of mine (I'm sure most of you will see right through this and know who it is.) LOL but anyway.......
I have been asked time and time again by this person why I am so negative or why I am such a Pessimist. Well to tell you the truth Im not sure what has made me that way but I can tell you since I have been talking about it I have really been trying to understand what makes me think the way I do and then this is two fold I'm trying to think if the way I feel is a bad thing or a good thing. When it comes down to it I don't think it makes a difference one way or the other If I see a glass as half empty. I mean after all both answers are right the glass is half empty AND it is half full is it not?
When I try to look at myself from the outside in I don't really see myself as a pessimist what I do see is a REALIST. I mean lets face it if you have s shot gun pointed at your head in a hold up you have a damn good chance of getting shot do you not? Thats not being a pessimist thats being a realist. Now if you walk away with out getting shot good for you more power to you and thank God for it. (Side note if you were to have gotten shot should you thank God for that too? thats a question that I have always thought about.)
Its how things are its not that I think things will always turn out badly its that I think life is like a card game at a casino. The odds are NOT in your favor but you CAN WIN from time to time. You just have to make the best out of the hand you have been dealt. And don't assume that you are always going to have a hand that will win cause in life things are not that easy.
Does being a pessimist (
realist) make me an unhappy person? NO! I don't think it does I just don't ever have very high expectations of things I assume the worst in most cases and if things turn out better great! If they don't thats ok to cause I was not at all sure they were going to be ok anyway. So you see from my point of view its a win win there is no big let down if things go south.
Now if I could always have all the facts about something at my finger tips and make a clear judgment based on facts that would be different.
I am a fact person I like facts I like information I like knowing whats around the bend I am also a planner I can't just go along in my day to day life with out a plan (although sometimes I become a two year old again and don't fallow my own plans when I know damn full well I should.) it is when I don't have all those facts, information, & plans in place that I revert to my "oh this isn't good" mode.
So in closing here -- my conclusion a Pessimist = a Realist
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