Preach it Sistah!

Ah, yes, I love it when my way of thinking is reflected to me in unexpected places!

Like today, in the AJC. I’m perusing the Op-Ed section like I do every day and a headline beckons: “Happily adrift in a sea of low expectations”. And the pull quote is,

“There’s such a thing as being too positive, especially when expectation gets confused with hope.”

Why, YES, that’s exactly it!!

The essay is written by LA Times columnist Megan Daum and the piece is entitled “Wanna be happy? Expect the worst”. It’s common for syndicated articles to be retitled by the paper who runs them, sadly. The AJC typically has lame ass titles for their Op-Ed section.

Anyway, basically what Ms Daum is saying is that my mantra of “Hope for the best, prepare for the worst” is her mantra as well and while most people think it’s bad karma or all negative, it’s really NOT. It’s a pragmatic way to deal with life’s let downs and yet keep a decent level of satisfaction. The author mentions Denmark for having a very pragmatic (read: pessimistic) view of themselves, yet also having the highest rate of life satisfaction in the world. Hmmm.

I think more people should try it. It would certainly make a dent in antidepressant sales. Americans eat happy pills by the handful trying to be “positive”. Then when things don’t work out as planned, they are crushed and depressed. All I’m saying is perhaps having a prepared mind for ALL contingencies is why you don’t see us “pessimists” eating anitdepressants like M&Ms. And perhaps it’s why we get shit done – both good and bad – with equal alacrity.

When you are mentally prepared for any outcome, good OR bad, you are much more calm when the shit hits the fan. It’s these “optimists” who are never prepared for anything and get totally sidetracked by reality. Reality is that things rarely go as planned. It’s rarely as good OR bad as you think. Being “optimistic” is typically equated with EXPECTING success. Therein lies the problem. No contingency plan. Take Iraq for instance. A prime example of optimistic thinking.

For me, being a “pessimist” is far more conducive to living a good life and having a nice level of satisfaction. If you can weather the storms with as much vigor as the nice weather, then you’ll definitely be ahead of the game. Look around you.

I’ll bet we “pessimists” are happier overall than the “optimists”. Perhaps I shall move to Denmark!