The fine line between realism and pessimism
I have never been accused of being an optimistic person.
But where is that fine line where you cross from realistically anticipating potential negative consequences of your actions to focusing on the negative?
There is a certain safety in being able to predict the negative and having a back-up plan for it. The safety from having a back-up plan comes from the fact that you can honestly say 'worst case scenario, I will still be OK'. Does that mean that you're focusing on the potential negative issues or does that make you rational and prudent?
Surely, we all want the best for ourselves and we all hope for the best. But belief based on the 'happy arrangement of planets' conspiring to ensure the best case scenario happens to you with no basis in fact may find you helpless in the face of 'unfortunate arrangement of planets'. Because despite what we might like to believe, we are not the center of the universe and the universe does not conspire to achieve our happiness.
Sometimes the worst case scenario does happen because sometimes the worst case scenario does not depend exclusively on us. You may be doing a great job but if your company performs badly you may be fired anyway. (this is actually an issue I addressed in my previous post). So if that happens, isn't it better to be prepared for it rather than be smacked right into the face?
Hope for the best but be prepared for the worst. I think that makes you a realist, not a pessimist. But, hey, to each his own.
But where is that fine line where you cross from realistically anticipating potential negative consequences of your actions to focusing on the negative?
There is a certain safety in being able to predict the negative and having a back-up plan for it. The safety from having a back-up plan comes from the fact that you can honestly say 'worst case scenario, I will still be OK'. Does that mean that you're focusing on the potential negative issues or does that make you rational and prudent?
Surely, we all want the best for ourselves and we all hope for the best. But belief based on the 'happy arrangement of planets' conspiring to ensure the best case scenario happens to you with no basis in fact may find you helpless in the face of 'unfortunate arrangement of planets'. Because despite what we might like to believe, we are not the center of the universe and the universe does not conspire to achieve our happiness.
Sometimes the worst case scenario does happen because sometimes the worst case scenario does not depend exclusively on us. You may be doing a great job but if your company performs badly you may be fired anyway. (this is actually an issue I addressed in my previous post). So if that happens, isn't it better to be prepared for it rather than be smacked right into the face?
Hope for the best but be prepared for the worst. I think that makes you a realist, not a pessimist. But, hey, to each his own.
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