Friday, January 4, 2008

good from the dark side

  As a general rule, I think that pessimists are happier than most of us.

When things go wrong, it is just as expected. And when good things happen, it is a pleasant surprise. There is never any real disappointment to have to deal with. It is hard to be disillusioned in something that you were anticipating.

An optimist has to deal with one frustration after another. Not only that, they must lie to themselves and say that everything is fine, when it really isn’t. And in some cases all that pent up regret may build up to a point of no return and erupt into senseless violence or at least something very negative.

So what is the answer? Perhaps let yourself be pessimistic every now and then? You may avoid pent up frustration that sits around causing you unconscious mental or physical health problems.

Optimism certainly has its place. But it also has its limits. For example, have you ever felt that your life is basically, a failure? You don’t have your dream house and you are not financially independent.

You are not married to a saint that looks like a movie star and worships the ground you trip on. Things have just not turned out like you expected.

So what to do? Accept the fact that you may never have all the things you desire. We all can’t be at the top. Yes that is somewhat pessimistic, but consider this:

I know that I may never have all the things I want in life. So today I will try to find something that is good in my life and enjoy it. It’s not hard to find good things if you stop reaching for the stars and look under your feet.

Tomorrow I may look to the heavens and go for it all. But today I will just appreciate what I have and see what happens.

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