Friday, 10 December 2010

Pointless Pessimism.

I’ve always been an optimist at heart, but I learned at a very early age that things often go horribly wrong. So I developed the habit of telling myself always to expect the worst. That way, I wouldn’t get a painful shock when things worked out badly, right?

Wrong. If you’re a natural optimist, some inner part of you always expects everything to go swimmingly. Pretending to be pessimistic is just that – a pretence. And deep down you always know it, so you still get a shock when things go pear-shaped.

I’m trying to develop a new technique now: don’t expect anything, just do your best and deal with whatever the outcome is. No more pointless expectations.

It isn’t easy.

2 comments:

KMcCafferty said...

I have to do that with my work a lot, convince myself that whatever the outcome is what it is and I put my best foot forward.
Indeed, much easier said than done. Wish I had some words of wisdom but I'm still learning the ropes myself. All I can say is I know where you're coming from.

JJ said...

We seem to have one or two things in common, Kaetlyn. Odd how you can sense a connection with somebody you've never met and aren't very likely to meet. And I'm sure you've realised by now that you never stop 'learning the ropes.' I wonder whether there's any point to it all. No matter. We do what we do and go where the instincts lead.