Expect the best?!?

chic

chic

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I was having a conversation with a friend the other day about optimism. She sincerely believes optimism is healthy and that if you expect good things to come your way in life, they will if you have a good attitude. Hmm. Though I'm not a pessimist, I must say optimists scare me to death. They seem to be either naive or a one way street and tend to have no options when their one game plan falls apart.

There's a lot to be said for being pragmatic. If you're a pragmatist you may not smile and sing all day long, but I think you are better prepared for bad things happening out of nowhere and they do. We've all experienced this in life. My dear grandmother was a pragmatist and my family never went without a thing because she was always ready for anything.

How do you feel about optimism? Are you optimistic, pessimistic or just pragmatic?
 

chic said:
I was having a conversation with a friend the other day about optimism. She sincerely believes optimism is healthy and that if you expect good things to come your way in life, they will if you have a good attitude. Hmm. Though I'm not a pessimist, I must say optimists scare me to death. They seem to be either naive or a one way street and tend to have no options when their one game plan falls apart.

There's a lot to be said for being pragmatic. If you're a pragmatist you may not smile and sing all day long, but I think you are better prepared for bad things happening out of nowhere and they do. We've all experienced this in life. My dear grandmother was a pragmatist and my family never went without a thing because she was always ready for anything.

How do you feel about optimism? Are you optimistic, pessimistic or just pragmatic?
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I agree ..... being pragmatic seems to be the key.........
I think too many wild eye optimists are ill prepared if things do not go the way they imagined ....
 
Hope for the best and prepare for the worst. That's my philosophy.

Since it's still the beginning of the year, start making a list of everything you worried about happening this year. Then, at the end of the year, check off the things that actually happened. You will be surprised at how much time you wasted worrying about things that didn't even happen.

“If something is wrong, fix it now. But train yourself not to worry, worry fixes nothing.”~ Ernest Hemingway
https://www.elephantjournal.com/2009/08/buddhist-rule-re-worrying/
 
Never really thought about it ...
I don't think everything is "great", far from it! .. but I do believe that if you try to channel your thoughts to a positive frame of mind, that things have a way of turning out better for you.

And I see this everyday ... being a negative (pessimistic) person affects your general/mental health as you age. It takes you down. JMO
 
I'm a mix. I'm an optimist about appliances, if I was a pragmatist I'd get the hot water heater replaced now since it is 10 years old, but instead I optimistically expect it to last forever, whereupon it will break and I will be an instant basket case. For snowstorms I'm a pessimist, they can forecast a 50% chance of 1 inch of snow and I will buy groceries to last a month. I don't know whether I'm a pragmatist about the stock market, more like an irrational mix of optimist/pessimist.
 
None of the choices since "whatever" is situational. I can be any of the choices depending on what is happening.

Situation
Winning Power Ball

optimist I bought a ticket I have a chance

pessimist I won't win I won't buy a ticket

Pragmatist The chance of winning next to none but if I don't buy a ticket I won't know.

Start as Pragmatist go to pessimist then to optimist
 
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Well, I would say I'm an optimist, however, because thinking, "positive thinking" is in the relative field, it can't ever be a profound basis for living. So, Thinking is imaginary. If it doesn't come from a permanent, absolute nature, it's a delusion.
 
chic said:
I was having a conversation with a friend the other day about optimism. She sincerely believes optimism is healthy and that if you expect good things to come your way in life, they will if you have a good attitude. Hmm. Though I'm not a pessimist, I must say optimists scare me to death. They seem to be either naive or a one way street and tend to have no options when their one game plan falls apart.
There's a lot to be said for being pragmatic. If you're a pragmatist you may not smile and sing all day long, but I think you are better prepared for bad things happening out of nowhere and they do. We've all experienced this in life. My dear grandmother was a pragmatist and my family never went without a thing because she was always ready for anything.
How do you feel about optimism? Are you optimistic, pessimistic or just pragmatic?
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I've always struggled a bit with optimism, but I hope I'm getting better and I entirely agree with your post. .:)
 
Remy said:
I'm pessimistic to the point that's it's probably killing me. I really have little hope anymore.
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We must try to infuse a spot of "seniors forum" optimism into you, here goes,.......,
how about a bit of black humour, "We're all gonna die anyway, why not enjoy your life, be as happy as you possibly can, and smile, shine your light in as many dark places as possible, and if all that fails, what have you lost hey" ;) (?)
 
Ceege said:
Hope for the best and prepare for the worst. That's my philosophy.
Since it's still the beginning of the year, start making a list of everything you worried about happening this year. Then, at the end of the year, check off the things that actually happened. You will be surprised at how much time you wasted worrying about things that didn't even happen.
“If something is wrong, fix it now. But train yourself not to worry, worry fixes nothing.”~ Ernest Hemingway
https://www.elephantjournal.com/2009/08/buddhist-rule-re-worrying/
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Great philosophies, and way to live your life, and I'm envious indeed, my only caveat is what would the rest of us do with our time if we were not constantly running around bothering ourselves and others about the slightest thing, "we'd be lost wouldn't we"! 🤪🥳😇😭😢🤬🥴🤤🤥 .
 
grahamg said:
Great philosophies, and way to live your life, and I'm envious indeed, my only caveat is what would the rest of us do with our time if we were not constantly running around bothering ourselves and others about the slightest thing, "we'd be lost wouldn't we"! 🤪🥳😇😭😢🤬🥴🤤🤥 .
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Start making that list. 🤣
 
Not everyone sees this lockdown and mask thing as a death sentence. Some of us are able to patiently go about living this way in the hope that things will eventually get better.

~*~

As to the remark about the small child with only days to live...I will tell you something...back when I had my miscarriage I had no idea that the baby daddy was a child molester. Later after a little time had gone on I found out he molested a 7 yo girl. If I'd had that baby...she would've been subjected to that. So I do believe there are reasons why things take place based on personal experience. It's easy for people to judge until they themselves have had something happen.
 
mellowyellow said:
What really gets me is when someone says "everything happens for a reason" while looking at a picture of a toddler with brain cancer with only days to live. So what is the reason in that situation?
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Those that say that would also say.
God works in mysterious ways.
 
Mellowyellow wrote:
"What really gets me is when someone says "everything happens for a reason" while looking at a picture of a toddler with brain cancer with only days to live. So what is the reason in that situation?"
Knight said:
Those that say that would also say.
God works in mysterious ways.
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It is very hard to find any words in those awful situations, let alone the right words, and whoever says the wrong thing could fairly claim to be trying to provide some consolation for the distressed person to hold on to when there appears to be none.
 
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