It seems no matter how hard one tries to have a positive outlook on everything in life there is always someone there totally opposite. When you see a bright sunshiny day they see a dark cloud in the distance and are certain it will bring rain. When you are excited about a new job they will point out all its shortcomings. Just about anything someone finds that is good, there is someone there to find the bad as well. So how in the world do you deal with all this negativity? Do you separate yourself from them and avoid all the negative people around you? That could be complicated if that negative person is a spouse, a child, a parent, a sibling, or a close long-time friend. So what can you do? Well, let’s look at this a little deeper. Take a flashlight battery for example. It has positive and negative. Take one away and the flashlight will no longer work. Look at the positive and negative aspects like the batteries in a flashlight. If you think about it that negative person or pessimist is in their own right an optimist too. As much as you believe in a good outcome they believe equally in a bad outcome. If the outcome was indeed bad it would be a learning experience for you. Helping you make better optimistic choices in the future. There are two things you can absolutely be sure of, you will live until you die. No matter how strongly we may believe that something will be good there is always a possibility that it will not. The pessimist chooses to expect the worst in order to avoid disappointment from believing in the best and not getting it. Then should they get the best without expecting to do so they are usually overwhelmed with excitement. The optimist chooses to expect the best believing that a positive winning attitude will help even when the odds are not favorable. Then should they not get the best they are usually somewhat disappointed moving on believing there is always the next time. One refuses to give up while the other starts by admitting defeat. If you are a true optimist the negative pessimist will not alter your beliefs nor be able to disrupt your positive flow in life. They will be a tool from which you will learn and grow. Sooner or later the sun will shine even through the darkest clouds. Don’t separate yourself from the pessimist or negatives in your life overcome them. If you can not believe that you can do that, you are already losing to negativity. Can not, never could, can, almost always will. The pessimist needs the optimist so they will always have some spark of hope, someone believing enough in something good happening that they make it happen. The optimist needs the pessimist so they can see the brighter side. Be like the battery, remain at opposite ends while working together. It takes all kinds to make our world go around. None any more or less important than the next. I am an optimist. I see the sun behind the clouds, the green leaves on the lifeless branches, the good in humankind, and the belief that because there are people just like you and me this world has a chance.
Simply my thoughts
Dean Butler.
