: honesty is the best policy :

The pessimist complains about the wind; the optimist expects it to change; the realist adjusts the sails.

William Arthur Ward

It is said that we are born with one tendency or another and I always considered myself to be pessimistic.

Not for me the books of optimism, mumbo and harnessing the power of positivity.

But I have discovered that I am in fact, a realist.

An article I read the other day stated "that unhappy people work harder, look deeper at situations, find more creative solutions and do better work than happy people. Happy people overestimated their abilities, underestimate the complexity of the problems, and tend to opt for easy answers."

*I think the word 'some' should be added to that statement as it is rather sweeping don't you think?*

But what about a middle road?

The realist.

Isn't realism just another name for creative thinking?

Perhaps this is me after all.

When I point out the pitfalls I'm not being a party pooper ~ I'm looking at the whole picture, the contributing factors

& the ugly details that those optimists breeze past.

Optimism is good as long as it's accurate!

If you promise the moon and deliver a stone people will be disappointed.

Better surely to under-promise ~ giving yourself time and a get-out-of-jail free card ~ and then over-deliver.

There's lots of optimists out there ~ the multi zillion pound self-help book/dvd/bluray market is testament to that.

Quite the cult ~ join us and be saved.

But go against the grain and the happy-clappy crew will go off in their boat, not hearing your cries of "are there enough life jackets?"

But be ready to be accused of not having enough faith or being discouraging.

It's frustrating when some optimists have a need for things to work out. A sort of ocd.

They fluff up the news to soften the blow, miss out the bad points and blur the edges.

Yeah man ~ the optimist world, let's party and never mind the neighbours.

Do they really think we're too stupid not to notice?

Maybe sometimes it's best to keep quiet and stop offering up our realistic viewpoints.

Most people would rather believe in their visions, shove off, and then bail water later in a panic *even though they didn't bring any buckets for that inevitable scenario because that would be negative thinking*

Now I know that I'm not inferior for seeing things realistically or odd for simply calling things the way I see them. Confident that I do have something important to contribute ~ although believing this doesn't mean that anyone will listen!

If it is true that realists/pessimists see things for what they are and can do good based on these facts that others won't face as easily, then the heavily negative opinion towards realists/pessimists really should change.

Perhaps we should stop looking only for people with high energy/upbeat personalities and be more willing to listen to those who actually enjoy looking at the dark side of problems. We need a combination of voices to get the best out of everything.

So pessimists and realists ~ hands up ~ you've been in naughty corner too long.