“I like pessimists. They’re always the ones who bring life jackets for the boat.” ― Lisa Kleypas, Christmas Eve at Friday Harbor
“Sometimes a pessimist is only an optimist with extra information.” ― Idries Shah, Reflections
“The man who is a pessimist before 48 knows too much; if he is an optimist after it he knows too little.” ― Mark Twain
“I will be the first to admit that I am a pessimist by nature. It is, after all, the wisest way to be. We pessimists have everything to gain, whereas optimists have a fifty-fifty chance of being disappointed.” ― Tamar Myers, As the World Churns
Now, first of all let’s get the word “pessimism” defined my way. It is not necessarily a bad word. People generally see it as meaning something terrible, like it’s a word one should never use. However, people have used to describe ME multitudinous times. But I simply like to see myself as a “person with a plan.”
Okay, let’s get the psychological stuff out of the way right off the bat. If you’ve read about me you know that at age seven I had polio. I will grant that this is the kind of thing that could really give one what is considered a “pessimistic” outlook. But it worked in reverse for me. You might not believe this but at that time I took an oath, to never get caught by any catastrophe that I could possibly take steps to avoid. Then I very positively set my mind on getting out of the hospital and walking.
And so it begins . . . one who functions with this philosophy goes way out, thinks of all the bad things that could happen, and “makes a plan.” It’s that simple—a process of weighing all the paths, all the scenarios and choosing which one you wish to be involved with in your life.
I even read in a magazine once that “pessimism” was not so awful. The article stated that it was more a case of critical thinking. The mind set of a person with this way of thinking is really more rational than anything else. You see, bad things really do happen to good people, there have been books written about this. I have read the books in an effort to drop what was seen as my brand of “pessimism.”
I’ve had my personality tested by very capable people in my workplace (more about that in a future post) and essentially I am not a nut. So once again I revert to my first description of “a gal with a plan.”
This thinking used to drive my husband nuts and some of my very good friends, and yet they tolerated me. One of my good friends has a husband who is of the same ilk as me. One day the three of us had a discussion about this very accusation of us being “so pessimistic.” The discussion yielded the revelation that he would go through the same process I did—think the worst, think of a solution/defense and then come back to sanity. However, when we come back we are ready for the future and thus we can relax.
So, think about it. If you were on the Titanic would you want me with you? (Well, first I have to point out that if I had been there, I would have considered a lot of facets that may not have been considered—like it is not impossible for even the best ship to sink.) I repeat, would you want me with you on the Titanic? Maybe I would have already thought of a plan for just such an event. Maybe I would be singing “Nearer My God to Thee,” but I would do it while trying to knit deck chairs together so we could all try to float away.
I can point out other real life situations where the near impossible happened many times in history, but I am not going to dwell on more negative happenings. People will rush to once again label me as pessimistic. I will just ask you to consider the way of such people as myself—don’t always put them down. They just might be the guy or gal with the plan for the very dilemma you face, and might just lead you out of it. Give them a break, okay? Somebody has to be the hall monitor with their finger on the pulse of impossibility.