Are you an OPTIMIST or a PESSIMIST? 🥛
Every now and then I’ll see a quote from Arthur Schopenhauer on Facebook. He’s not one of the SUPER luminaries like Plato, Nitzsche, or Kant, but notable. In “The Story of Philosophy”, Will Durant’s eminently readable survey of the discipline, Schopenhauer is described as “profoundly pessimistic” in an age of similarly pessimistic figures and voices, including Goethe and Beethoven.
Did I mention that those quotes resonate with me? I would even go so far as to say that Shopenhauer feels a bit like a spirit animal to me. Pessimistic, motivated and prolific. He found a place in history.
This gets me reflecting on pessimism. And optimism. Because they’re the same coin. Half empty, or half full, same glass, right? Our judgments anticipate a future that is not yet real. BUT, the law of attraction tells us that our thinking and expectations shape the future in important ways, BECOMING real. As we all have an interest in the future, it’s a topic worthy of reflection.
How about it? Are you an optimist or a pessimist? Or both? Or neither? Or a realist or some other such hedge?
Here’s what you should be. And here’s what all of the people who seem to be attracted to me are. They are fleximists. And I think that’s what I am too. It’s a word I just made up, and it’s NOT the same thing as being a realist. I think it actually combines all 3 “-ists”. Here’s how:
Optimists are always looking for the bright side of things, the opportunities, the positive outcomes, the best case scenario, no matter what’s happening. This is important.
Pessimists are always anticipating the worst outcomes, spotting the liabilities in people and plans, and looking for the downsides. This is important.
Realists see what is here now, with less judgment. The realistic frame proficiently sees things for what they are, free of the baggage we place on them. This is important.
Is it so simple as to exclusively adopt any of these framings at the expense of the others? We seem to have a collective sense that it is not. Optimism becomes pollyanna. Pessimism becomes despair. Realism becomes uninspiring. All of these must be tempered by the others at a point deep in our psyches.
Further, in my estimation, a truly productive outlook grapples, at least on some level, with the imperfectability of the human condition. It understands that growth is painful, that success is a struggle and often a grind, that both wars and games have winners and losers, and that there’s few greater feelings than winning. Fleximism understands that life continues to improve even though we don’t all get along. It’s the deep recognition that in order to grow we must work through problems, and so in order for all of us to grow we require an ENDLESS supply. It also grasps the paradox that overcoming trauma is a source of deep inspiration.
Only fleximism can see and navigate all of this clearly. If you resonate with this, perhaps you are a fleximist too 😉
Talk to me about your frustrations, visions, and goals: https://calendly.com/aaronjmarx/30min