Are you a pessimist or an optimist?

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Refer to yourself as "cautious and critical," and adopt a smug, superior attitude about it. It's very satisfying. Trust me.

I'm a hopeless optimist. This is partially due to going through severe depressive episodes in my past. Believe me, after you've died and come back to life a few times, it's natural to feel a bit immortal.

A pessimist can never be disappointed. An optimist is almost always disappointed. If one believes things will turn out badly then things can hardly ever turn out worse than expected.

ruveyn

most definately a pessimist.

How can an optimist be disappointed?

This optimist hasn't been disappointed in.... - a long time. Trying to remember....

Oh yeah - about a month ago we left a day late on a vacation. I was so pissed off I didn't automatically go to the silver-lining. That is the rare exception.

You mean a pessimist remains disappointed.

Nope! You miss the point of optimism. I've been around the block a few times, and optimism has nothing to do with expected outcomes. Optimism is the belief that, so long as there's a breath in you, there's a way forward, eventually. Optimism is a patient, stubborn sort of creature, and she won't take 'no' for an answer.

I believe that you can be an optimist or a pessimist in different sectors of life. When it comes to people I am sort of an optimist, I like to believe that people are mostly good and believe the best of them.

But when it comes to life and the physical world I am a pessimist. I feel unable to control a lot of what is going on around me on the physical plane and I am very sensitive in a sensory and physical way so I am easily overwhelmed and then I get irritable and angry. So when I was working I would spent 90% of my day feeling stressed and wired. And I guess it makes me down on life itself because I feel angry at a life I cant cope with.

I consider myself a realist....or someone who likes to hope for the best, but knows better than to blindly expect it.

Most people see me as a pessimist.

Pessimist, always looking on the bad side of things.

Everything is Doomed!

So let's have some fun!

Q: "Are you an optimist or a pessimist?"

A: "Yes"

It's not like I choose to be this way. My family tells me not to be so negative and I just can't help it. If something's a bad idea it's a bad idea and thinking about it positively won't change that in any way.

Pessimist here.

All I ever heard from people was negative (about me) so maybe I took it as normal to be 'negative' about things.

Optimism is also the ability to make something of a bad situation. To put it in its most corny, annoying saying - if life gives you lemons, make lemonade. (God! I hate that saying!)

Or better yet, to find the silver lining in the storm clouds. (I, literally, love to look at the silver-lining of clouds. I could stare at them and follow them around all day. To me, they are even cooler than rainbows)

Here's a good example. An optimist gets fired from her crappy, stressful marketing job and see's nothing but a clean start and a bright future. Three years later, as predicted, the present and future is way better then that sh***y oppressive job. (True story.)

Theodore Sturegeon's Lemma: 85 percent of everything is Sh*t.

ruveyn

When life gives you s**t, make a s**t sandwich.

Realist