Friday, September 30, 2005

Poisen Preference

The sucky thing about living is disappointment.

That's why I'm a pessimist. I'm never disappointed. Always pleasantly surprised.

But actually, I'm learning that this may not be the best strategy. As a pessimist you live all day in dread and fear and then get pleasantly suprised for a moment. Is it better to live all day in sunshine and lollipops and then get your high hopes dashed in the end?

What's worse: living in perpetual gloom or getting your heart broken?

2 comments:

melissa said...

maybe pessimism poisons the future as much as it forestalls possible disappointment. personally, as an optimist, if you always think things will look up, you'll always feel happy and hopeful. and when things are down, that's ok, cause you are sure the situation will improve. after all, this too shall pass.

as joy's dad told us when we were homeless:

"just think, you can only go up from here!"

kony said...

people who prefer optimism are either (1) sheltered from reality OR (2) in denial about reality, and all are destined for pain.

i think it's possible, at least in theory, to be a happy pessimist. the stoics were onto something.