The Optimist Pessimist Debate

If I had a nickel for every time someone said to me, “How do you stay positive?,” my life would be full of stainless steel, armor plating, ceramics, magnets and batteries (all the things nickel makes.)

Since I don’t, I have resigned to the fact that I have to keep hearing this phrase even if it kills me. I guess it’s not that bad. It’s a compliment, though people who are guilty of that overused phrase don’t know that they are giving me such a compliment.

For one thing, it tells me that I am maintaining a positive attitude and by maintaining such an attitude, people take notice. It may rub them the right way or in some cases the wrong way.

I had one of those conversations the other day that I always have with people who don’t see the benefits of positivity. In fact, they see it as negative. They see everything except negativity as negative. 

They are always shocked that I am so positive given the state of the world, the crime rate, and everything else designed to cause negativity. They look at me dumbfounded, a little angry, and profusely curious.

Could it be that I am the bane in their existence, an enigma, an uncharted experiment in humanity, a thorn in their pessimistic side, or all of the above? Now I am curious. 

What is it about positivity that gets under some people’s skin. I like it so I don’t see a problem, but clearly I could be in the minority. Imagine if we had a world of negativity. A pessimist would argue that we do, I would beg to differ.

Granted, some parts of life are not pleasant at all; death, destruction, hurt, loss and so many others, but for all of those instances, there is rebirth, creation, pleasure and growth. 

Your soul is constantly going through the spin cycle and you have to ride it out to get to the next phase of life.

You have a choice in life to be positive or negative, they both take the same amount of energy. So why succumb to negativity? 

There is a huge upside to positivity, you smile more, have boundless gratitude, less stress, people gravitate to you, they want what you have. 

What do you get when you are negative? Less friends, more stress, more anger, more strife, more unhappiness, more of what you don't want.

Sometimes pessimists try to couch that they are pessimists by saying, “I’m a realist.” I usually respond, “So am I.” Who says realists are negative?
 

Then pessimists try to convince me that their way of thinking is right. I must be naive, must have fallen on my head as a child. They think my brain has to be reset, it’s too soft. 


Optimists know this is coming, but we see the good side of it. Obviously pessimists are not happy being pessimists and they are looking for a way to convert.

The best way to convince a pessimist to be an optimist is to not do anything. They will eventually get so fed up with being that way that they will become optimists. (Only an optimist would think that.)

People have their views and if you don’t agree with them don't spend your life getting them to see things your way. If I had the choice (and I do) I would always opt to be an optimist. 


What about you?