A Tendency Toward Optimism

Unworking Issue 010

Optimism is a feature of resilience. Optimistic people are considered better at handling challenging circumstances and setbacks than those who are not. To be optimistic is to feel generally positive about one’s future. It suggests that tomorrow, next week, next month, or next year will be better than today. We know everything won’t go our way every time, or even some of the time, but we expect that things will improve eventually. It’s what keeps us going in times of stress, anxiety, and even trauma. Optimism is a component of our worldview—our mindset and philosophy on life. It has a tendency to empower us even in times of difficulty, and it is an essential aspect of a healthy personality and attitude to life.

Optimists are people who anticipate positive outcomes, whether through the natural order of things or through perseverance and effort. Pessimists, on the other hand, hold the dominant belief that, on the whole, things are unlikely to get better regardless of effort. Pessimists expect unfavourable outcomes and are otherwise doubtful or hesitant about positive ones.

Of course, most of us lie somewhere on the spectrum between these two polar opposites. Talking about these states of mind, it is maybe better to discuss our tendencies towards one sense of things or the other. For example, you may be optimistic about your future work and career prospects but hold a more pessimistic view of meeting a partner and settling down. Pure optimism in the face of obvious difficulty may be considered naive and represent an unwillingness to face the reality of the situation. Most of us lie somewhere on the spectrum between the two apparent polar opposites but sometimes demonstrate strong, relatively stable or situational tendencies in one direction or the other.

In all of this, however, whether you consider yourself an optimist, a pessimist, or somewhere in between, there is the concept of linear time. We believe in our linear passage through life like a train on its tracks or a car on a road. Maybe the road or the track meanders along rather than running straight, and maybe it is not so well defined, but we’re on it regardless and there’s little we can do to avoid it other than to destroy one’s self. This is our concept of reality—all this goes on and we’re passing through it from birth to death. In the meantime, our control over conditions is only partial.

I measured my tendency toward optimism and it turns out that I am slightly pessimistic—according to the measure. I prefer to refer to myself as a realistic optimist. In other words, accept conditions as they are but expect better. My own particular answer to this problem of life has developed over time, and although I may not remember to employ it always, it sits in the corner of my mind. People help me remember the impermanence of things both good and bad. In the face of good or bad conditions, my response is, maybe.

Things are slow.
I wish they weren’t,
But I accept they are.
I expect they’ll change,
But maybe they won’t.
Regardless, I do the work.
Chop wood.
Carry water.
Chop wood.
Carry water.

Credit: Auld Stock.

---

Unworking is the new mid-week offering from The Sunday Letters Journal. It will be short, just like this one, or maybe longer…depends what I have to say. It’s for paid supporters of Sunday Letters, [this one’s free though] so if you’d like to get each one, become a supporter.