optimism vs pessimism essay

When should we be optimistic? When is it smarter to be pessimistic? When should we have high expectations and when should we lower our expectations, or drop our expectations altogether? Lately I’ve been thinking a lot about optimism and pessimism, or so-called “positive” and “negative” thinking, and in which contexts each is appropriate. In addition, there are methods of dealing with reality that are neither—more just observing things as they are—and these approaches seem really useful as well. The following article contains some of my recent thoughts and advice to myself on this topic. Perhaps you will find it valuable as well—or add your thoughts in the comments if you disagree! Optimism See the best in people, specifically look for the deeper positive intent underlying every behavior, feeling, and thought (especially those you don’t like or are harmful). At the same time, assume that most people aren’t usually connected with these deeper intentions so we often act in manipulative, selfish, and irresponsible ways—some more than others. Know that a small proportion of the population consistently acts sociopathically and/or narcissistically and it’s ok to completely cut people off who behave like this (and in fact, that’s the feedback they most need if they are to change anyhow). Learn to quickly identify people like this, and notice how most people are not psychopaths and therefore basically trustworthy. Give these people the benefit of the doubt until proven otherwise. And even when people act in harmful ways, look for the deeper positive intent behind them. See the best in yourself, especially look for the deeper positive intentions underlying all of your behaviors, feelings, and thoughts (especially your unwanted or harmful ones). Core Transformation is especially helpful for this. Accurately note when your behavior harms others, then be optimistic about your.
Rather than seeing them as opposites, though, it may be helpful to see them simply as two different ways of thinking, just as walking and riding a bike are two different ways of getting to a destination.  The major difference is the quality of the journey--the optimist goes through life creating, filled with and surrounded by positive energy, while the pessimist tends to create negative energy that fills his or her life and keeps the person focused on the negative. The pessimist will argue that he or she isn't a pessimist, but a realist.   After all, many negative things happen in life, and this person thinks that it's justified to focus on the bad as a way of life, as a way to shape and form his or her own perspective on life.  Their version of reality, though, includes only a very small portion of what truly goes on in the world and ignores all the positive things done every day.  Pessimists view the good in life as exceptions rather than the norm, and by maintaining this perspective, they guarantee that they will continue to be pessimists. Pessimists remind me of people who do only enough research to prove their own points, using only sources who will support them.  They can read a 200-page book on the joys of life, and focus only on one sentence that might say, Yes, there are bad things in life.   This kind of research, though, is universally condemned as invalid and self-serving, and it's never accepted as valuable research in any field. If you wish to create many negative experiences for yourself in life, then by all means, adopt pessimism as a way to look at the world.  Be aware, though, that your perspective will be anything but realistic, and that many of the negative things that happen will occur because your perspective actually caused them.  Nobody's saying that everyone should be outgoing optimists, but it is true that an optimistic outlook on life helps.
compliments of FutureVisionsSM creating sustainable results in growth and performance Generally, optimism is linked to higher achievement. However, amongst those undertaking legal studies, optimism is linked to lower grades and pessimism to higher grades (ie just the opposite). Pessimists have an underlying attitude that their experiences will usually (or always) be negative and they also believe failures are their own fault. Unfortunately, pessimistic thinking is linked to depression. That is, the more pessimistic someone is, the more likely they are to suffer from depression. Depressed people are actually much better judges of reality. For instance they are better at judging when something they are doing is useless. So the more realistic someone is, the more likely he or she is to become depressed! Pessimism is also bad for health. Pessimism makes people more liable to die of heart disease once they have it as well as more likely to get cancer in the first place. Indeed, among a sample of lawyers optimism was the best predictor of general well-being, even better than hardiness (emotional resilience). A study of law students found that those high in optimism at time 1 had more active immune systems at time 2 and that this was partly due to their having more positive moods, perceiving less stress and not using avoidance methods of coping. In a study of male Harvard undergraduates that started in the 1940s, high amounts of optimism at age twenty predicted good health at sixty-five. Meanwhile, those who were highly pessimistic at twenty often had left no forwarding address by the time those questionnaires rolled around at age sixty-five. Optimism (generally) appears to have a strong beneficial effect on physical and mental health. Optimists are positive thinkers. There are several ways of thinking positively. One is having thoughts with a positive content and.
________________________________________________ Title:     Optimism Vs. Pessimism Author: William Cowper Brann [More Titles by Brann] THE PREACHED AND THE APOSTLE. I am in receipt of a long letter from a Missouri minister, in which, to my surprise, he says: I regret to note that you are a Pessimist. Permit me to express the hope that so powerful a journal as the ICONOCLAST will yet espouse the sunny philosophy of Optimism, which teaches that all that is accords with the Plan of the Creator, and works together for the ultimate good. God moves in a mysterious way his wonders to perform. I had not hitherto suspected that I was inoculated with the awful microbes of Pessimism, but if my reverend friend is a professor in the sunny school of Optimism, I certainly do not belong to that sect. If all that is accords with the Plan of the Creator, did not Christ deserve to be crucified for bringing about new conditions, and Galileo to go to jail for interfering with the stupid ignorance of certain Catholic cardinals? Can even the Missouri minister be held guiltless when he attempts to turn my thinking apparatus around and make it operate from the other end? Surely he should not interfere in even so slight a particular with the Plan of the Creator, who may have been moving in a mysterious way his wonders to perform when he gave the supposedly pessimistic bend to my mind. Nay, if my Christian friend do but have the rheumatism, should he not refrain from poulticing himself, lest he throw the celestial machinery out of gear? If changes wrought in religion, science, government, etc., constitute a portion of the Plan, we must concede it to have originally been a very faulty affair--quite upsetting the optimistic theory that Whatever is is right. The terms Pessimism and Optimism are handled very loosely in these latter days. In the modern acceptance of the terms, the first may be.
SHAQUILLE CHARLES 78B OPTIMISTS VS. PESSISMISTS Pessimists have the keen ability to see the bad in everyone and everything. This “glass half empty” attitude never ceases to amaze me. They find fault in life itself and make it so that they are almost always miserable. This type of thinking makes them hard to be around and is only appealing to other pessimists. Optimism is the great outlook on life in which there is always a positive or a “bright side” to every situation. In this case a glass of water filled glass of water filled half way would be seen as a half full. Positivity more times than not encourages an outgoing personality. This helps in many ways most notably socially. Because the more outgoing a person the more socially accepted they are therefore they have more friends. This s hard for pessimist they have bad outlooks to many situations. Take for example a pop quiz given in an AP English class. The pessimist is prone to see this as a waste of time and does not look to put their “best foot forward” towards getting a good grade. An optimist in this case sees the test as a valid opportunity to improve and/or add to their grade. While the pessimist see only the bad in a test given at random the optimist sees the good in the grade they might receive. In another example, take sunny/hot weather the pessimist does nothing but complain about the heat. They also find fault in anything to do with going outside, they tend to complain. To an optimist this kind of weather is seen as an opportunity to participate in certain events that weren’t presented till then, they might opt to go to the beach or even a water park, they tend to make the best of the situation. Optimism are the life of the party, pessimists are the party poopers. Optimists make the most boring things seem fun and find the fun in them. Pessimists stand in the background preaching on what a bad idea it.
     Search for free essays, research papers & book reports.    Many people think different ways. Either they are positive thinkers or negative thinkers. In other words, they are optimists or pessimists. Optimistic people are positive thinkers. These people have a positive outlook on life. Pessimistic people are negative thiknkers. They may have a negative outlook on life. I fall under the category of being a pessimist. I never expect anything good to happen to me. I always sexpect the worst. An optimist always has a good attitude about life. On the other hand, I feel life is cruel hard. An optimistic thinker goes through life with no worries. these people may always have good luck nothing ever goes wrong in their lives. Most optimists don't worry about things like losing their job or having their untilities cut off. They believe nothing horrible will ever happen to them because they are optimistic about everything. Optimists will one day realized life is real not a fairy tale. I am pessimist I always expect life to hand me lemons. The only luck I have is bad luck. for instance, I fixed my transmission in my van a week later my AC goes out. Eve. Word Count: 554 Page Count: 2.2  (250 words a page / double spaced) What is Your Time Worth? Get INSTANT UNLIMITED ACCESS to this Essayand 15,000 other Essays & Term Papers. Only .99! View This Essay Now Search for other optimist or pessimist essays, term papers and book reports. Other Free Essays, Term Papers and Book Reports: We realize you have a choice when selecting where to go to find a book report, essay or term paper on optimist or pessimist so we appreciate your support in using our essay help and term paper help service. Dear Free Essays: Thanks for helping me with my term paper! With so many essays and term papers on your service, I got a few ideas from mixing and matching and managed to write a great paper in.