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This blog post, I’m convinced, will be a real disaster.
I mean, just think of all the things that could possibly go wrong! If I post it at the …
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Site last updated: 18 Jun 2013
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Amen honey!!! That’s just how I feel. I am no longer a total pessimist, but I still lean that way. However, I think it prepares me for the times that things do go wrong. I don’t walk around all gloomy. I just acknowledge in my mind that things could go wrong so that I am prepared if (you notice I didn’t say “when”) they do. It is nice to know I’m not the only one.
At last somebody who is on my side! I’ve been a classic defensive pessimist my whole life. As a child, I remember I used to worry about what would happened if my parents had an accident and died when they went out in the evening, and I was upset that most times, whoever was babysitting me just insisted on telling me “that won’t happen”, instead of describing to me how orphans are cared for. People around me keep telling me that I should be more positive, and I look at them like they want me to voluntarily drop off a cliff. What the hell is the use of being unprepared and not thinking through all the worst-case scenarios?
We sound quite alike!
I cannot agree with you more. I am DEFINATELY a defensive pessimist! And you know what? Why would there be anything wrong with that? Isnt that what people are taught at a young age? You prepare for a test by studying and being ready, not just thinking “its ok, I got this”. Thinking and preparing for the worst has saved lives in this world. And if for some reason optimists think that a pessimist is wrong for thinking “negatively”, then let me know how far walking around “hoping” everything is going to go your way gets you before you do have something go down the sh*tter. Ya know whats going to happen? Its something that going to be major, its going to effect a large part of your life, your going to get depressed and your not going to know what to do since you didnt plan and most of all your going to deserve it. Other then that……great article!
Yes! yes! yes! I have just discovered a name for my general state of affairs, and couldn’t be happier! i think there is absolutely a place in the world for defensive pessimists. I don’t sit around bemoaning all the problems and throwing up my hands…I DO something about it!
I had a student once i never could understand. for him, everything was going to go his way and he never worried a single second. And he was right. things always seemed to work out for him, one way or another…and if it wasn’t exactly the way he wanted, he found a way to make it be a good thing for him….I simply couldn’t beleive how he lived his life.
I would get more sleep at night if I were like him. So there is a benefit to being optimistic.
When i left my job as a school leader and became one of the minions again, I felt much more relaxed because I didn’t have the weight of solving problems on my shoulders as much and I had far fewer things to get anxious over….and I lost weight, had lower blood pressure, slept better, and was generally in a far healthier place. So i think being a DP person can become life threatening when you have certain jobs and responsibilities, and life saving in other jobs…