Wednesday, May 12, 2010

On Optimism

I am, for the most part, an optimist. I have heard many people say that the danger of being an optimist is that we must get disappointed all the time, for having such high hopes. That is a bit of a misconception. True optimists don't have the chance to be disappointed. Rather, when hopes are dashed, the true optimist moves immediately to the next hope, thinking perhaps something good will come from the situation as it stands, that something even better will come along, or that something else entirely will occur that will also be good. It takes quite a lot to leave an optimist in disappointment, because we almost always have hope for the events of the future.

For these reasons, if you converse with me thinking I should be disappointed with something, you'll hear a lot of "at least X is still true" or "but maybe X will happen" as I seek out the bright side and the possibilities. In some ways, I'm not sure I believe in inevitable failure--a thing I share in common with Captain Kirk (consider the Kobayashi Maru).

Unlike many optimists, however, I have my optimistic side peacefully coexisting with my bitterly jaded side, which is another issue entirely and involves a lot of, "well, I saw that coming."

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On an unrelated note: I officially have an Etsy that is open for business, so check it out!

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2 comments:

Kevin said...

The optimist sees a donut; the pessimist only see's a hole

Rae Botsford said...

That is adorable. Also, I now want a donut.