optimists v pessimists

[khartoumteddy]

BOTH OPTIMISTS AND PESSIMISTS CONTRIBUTE TO LIFE

An Optimist invented the Aeroplane

The Pessimist invented the Parachute

Which side are you on ??

And Why

TEDDY

[Minimum]

I'm a pessimist. If you always expect the worst, when it happens you're prepared. When it doesn't happen you get a nice surprise.

[jimcee]

THE CASE FOR OPTIMISM

There’s optimism, and at the other end of the spectrum—pessimism. Some would argue that there is also realism, but I suspect that anyone who labels themselves as a realist is just a pessimist in disguise.
Put very simply, optimists have a positive approach to life, and pessimists have a rather negative one, but some elaboration on that bald statement would give a better picture of the differences.
Firstly, a subject over which we have no control—the weather. If the pattern is that there are an equal number of rainy days and sunny ones, your optimist will expect the upcoming day to be one of the sunny ones, while your pessimist will be resigned to using the umbrella again. Admittedly the optimist will receive some disappointments, but the pessimist will dismiss a pleasant sunny day with the opinion that “We will pay for this later”.
Next, a situation over which we are completely in control—the assembly of a flat pack piece of furniture. The optimistic approach will follow the lines of, “Well, this should be a doddle. If I follow the instructions this will be fitted together in no time at all”. On the other hand, your pessimist will survey the contents and instructions with trepidation. “This all looks horribly complicated and I will probably not understand the instructions, and get it all wrong. I think I had better get some help with it”.
But all is not sweetness and light on the optomistic front - a healthy dose of cynicism would be advisable when encountering all of the following offers—
You get a message from a banker in some foreign country (Nigeria is a favourite venue) saying that he is custodian of a fortune in millions, of someone who has recently deceased, and of whom you have no knowledge, and that this fortune will go to the state unless you help him to retrieve it. With your help this can be split between you, and he is only after a very small proportion of the proceeds. Just get in touch right away to get the recovery process under way.
You get a message that you have won first prize in a lottery that you have never heard of, and certainly have never subscribed to. It is a lottery done on a ballot of email addresses, and yours has been chosen .Just get in touch with your fiduciary (trustee) agent with details of your bank so that they can give you the money.
Another message which comes in several disguises, says that for a very modest amount of your time—two or three hours of your time each week, you will be able to amass a larger income than you currently do with your full time occupation. All you have to do is pay up front for the secret of this amazing scheme.
If optimism overrides common sense, and you take up these fantastic offers, then in the first two instances you will, at least be worse off financially, with no means of redress, or worse still you will suffer from identity theft.
In the third case you will pay good money for a scheme which on most cases is unworkable, but will be contributing to the coffers of the perpetrator, who may well achieve the returns which he was promising you.
Although not wallet endangering, on the other side of the fence, the Pessimist also has temptations to worry about, and these involve worries. Not your ordinary everyday worries like which clothes to wear, or how many spoonfuls of sugar to put in your coffee, and things over which you have absolute control.
No, the pessimist is prone to worrying about what disasters might befall him, like getting stuck in a lift, or being kidnapped—things which are statistically against all the odds. Also the extreme pessimist will include the rest of society, either local, national, and international in his worries, on the potential disasters just waiting in the wings.
Finally, a hypothesis which is not clinically proven, but which is worthy of consideration. An optimistic, positive attitude is far more likely to produce positive results, than a negative, pessimistic one. Mainly because the optimist will encourage positive steps, while the pessimist will reject them as a waste of time.

[Minimum]

And you only need to look at the state of the global economy to see the results of optimism over realism.

[Eric the Viking]

[jimcee]

And you only need to look at the state of the global economy to see the results of optimism over realism.

For optimism read mis-management