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Optimism is hopefulness and confidence about the future or the success of something.
Pessimism, its antonym, is the tendency to see the worst aspect of things or believe that the worst will happen.
Yet, in life, you can never be 100 per cent optimistic or a 100 per cent pessimistic. If you find that you are, it’s either a sign that things are bad – really bad – or that you have some kind of supernatural insight into the future.
The balance lies in not knowing and being comfortable with it.
Have you ever had that moment when someone asks you, “How do you know that?” and you reply, “I just know.”
How do you know things will get better?
How do you know things will get worse?
If you “just know” then this can either be called faith or defeatism, depending on which way the pendulum swings.
Ironically, there are benefits to being pessimistic and benefits to being optimistic.
However, the belief in these benefits can be harmful if they are skewed. A pessimist might believe that setting low expectations will protect them from disappointment while an optimist might believe that setting high expectations will increase the chances of a positive outcome.
Whatever your beliefs are, you need to manage your expectations and keep them from taking you overboard.
The best way to do this is to take the best from the present while making sure you plan for (not worry about) the future.
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