Are You A Pessimist or An Optimist?

Have you ever been asked if you are a glass half full or glass half empty type of person? I feel this is a trick question because either choice might bring judgment or worse, MORE questions. Who created these philosophies? Is it possible to believe in both? Can your view of a glass serve as a litmus test to determine your character forever? This blog attempts to answer these questions.

DEFINING THESE PHILOSOPHIES

According to Wikipedia, the purpose of each philosophy is to demonstrate that the situation may be seen in different ways depending on a person’s point of view. These two types of points of view or philosophies possibly originated as early as 1933. 

Glass Half Full 

Those that choose the glass half full philosophy are seen as an optimist. Optimists tend to focus on the good: there is still water available to drink. They see life through rose-colored glasses. 

Optimism can be defined by:

“A habitual tendency or a present disposition to take the most hopeful view of future events, and to expect a favorable outcome even when unfavorable outcomes are possible”.

Optimists serve in various capacities in our lives. They are usually our teachers, role models, life coaches, and family members. Those who see the glass as half full are the first to hug you when you need encouragement, provide reassurance when you are feeling down, and are your number one cheerleader.

Seeing This Philosophy In Action

• Did you just break up with your significant other? As an optimist, you would remind yourself of all your good qualities and the benefits of being single. Do some retail therapy or get a new haircut. Remind yourself there are more fish in the sea. 

• Did you lose your job? No worries. If you have an optimist friend, they will volunteer to update your resume so you can the value you will bring to your next job. They may network on your behalf to get you job leads. There is no time for moping around on their watch. 

• Diagnosed with a serious illness? Your optimistic coworker will only allow you to have a pity party for so long. They will become your volunteer health aide and create a plan to keep you healthy. They will be your cheerleader and will remind you daily how strong you are. They may even take off work to escort you to your doctor appointments and then treat you to a home-cooked meal.

“Athletes who view things with a half-full perspective have an automatic advantage over their pessimistic opponents. These athletes will find ways to energize themselves through struggles and challenging situations instead of simply giving up.” – The Sideline Post

Glass Half Empty

There is only one word used to describe people who believe in this philosophy — pessimistic. They tend to look at the worse part of a situation. Not what they hope or want a situation to be bad. Their view is not sugar coated. The glass is happy empty because there is water missing from what otherwise could be a full glass.

We need pessimists in our lives. If a situation is truly bad, we do not need someone to sugar coat it. We need someone to make us face the music when we are really in a bad predicament. Here are three advantages of being a realist on the Leadership Freak website.

1. Pessimists don’t fail as often as optimists
2. Pessimists aren’t disappointed as often as optimists.
3. Pessimists prepare for negative events.

Did the advantages surprise you? I was surprised by the first two. Having a positive attitude is supposed to not only help you cope with life but also motivate you. However, according to the list above, the exact opposite is true. I guess pessimists have no expectations therefore it is easy to avoid disappointment. This makes sense my pessimists see the glass as half empty.

Seeing This Philosophy In Action

• Did you just break up with your significant other? Your pessimistic friend will make you look into the mirror and be honest as to why the relationship ended. They will tell you to stop fretting over spilled milk or what you cannot change.  

• Did you lose your job? They will not help you deal with your feelings. They will remind you the world has not ended because you are unemployed. If they help you find a job, be sure to stay on top of applying. They might provide you a To Do List and will not accept any excuses as to why you cannot accomplish it.

• Diagnosed with a serious illness? No pity party allowed. They will take you doctor’s appointment however if they will also push you to get your affairs in order if they are not already if your conditional is fatal.

Pessimist or Realist

When I initially wrote this blog post, I used pessimistic and realistic interchangeably because I thought they had the same meaning. It wasn’t until I started searching to blog title ideas for this post that I learned differently.

What is the difference between a pessimist and a realist?

“The pessimist believes that things are bad and that they’re going to get worse. The realist tries to see things as they really are and expects the future to act according to probabilities and tendencies” .

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HUMANITY INSPIRES MOVEMENT

Each blog post I like to take a moment to share how this blog post could continue our mission to inspire humanity.

You might assume those see the glass as half full (optimists) are already inspiring others, so no advice is needed for them. That would be incorrect. People who constantly pour into others sometimes forget to pour into themselves. They put themselves last due to minimizing or ignoring their needs. When they chose to put themselves first, they are criticized by others for being selfish. Another downside of being a constant optimist was shared by Business Insider.

“Being too optimistic can lead to impracticality and overconfidence. If you don’t think about what could go wrong, you won’t be able to prevent it from happening. Mental strength stems from a good balance of realism and optimism. Developing comfort with the truth will help you build mental muscle”.

As you guessed it, pessimists (glass half empty) need to sprinkle a little bit more optimism in their life. How can a pessimist inspire others if they have a dark cloud hanging over them? According to Good Therapy, some strategies that may help individuals to be less pessimistic include:

CONCLUSION – THE LITMUS TEST

Back to the question I asked at the beginning of this blog. Can these philosophies act as a litmus test, to determine the true character of a person? I would say how you view a glass can determine how you view life situations, but flexibility should be given because depending on what’s going on in your personal life can determine your viewpoint. As mentioned above, the glass half full and the glass half empty points of view were never meant to generalize a person or put them in a box forever. They are meant to be applied on a situational basis. And guess what? YOU CAN CHANGE YOUR MIND AT ANY TIME ON HOW YOU VIEW A SITUATION. Our daily goal in life is to have a balance between being an optimist and a pessimist. If before reading this blog, you saw yourself as only an optimist or pessimist and while reading you realized you have no balance between the two, I hope this blog post has helped you.

Did you enjoy this blog post? Check out this one where I share a pretty cool way that could help you stick to new habits. Let’s just say dating is involved 🙂 Click here.

Comment below what you think about this blog post. Can these philosophies determine how a person views life, or should they be applied to situations only? (Please no profanity, politically driven statements, or just plain meanness. ANY SUCH COMMENTS WILL BE REMOVED).