Optimism

[JustBe]

Originally Posted by running

thank you for bringing up such a great topic. my feeling is it comes from within. kinda a knowing. and perhaps a knowing that even if we lose it all. we really haven't lost anything.

the beautiful aspect of optimism i think is it allows one to not get caught up in the herd mentality. what i mean is the courage to be in ones own feeling about something.

Hi running.

Maybe it’s a driver, that is remembered by some and forgotten by others.

Optimism will naturally seek more, meaning it knows change brings new possibilities, new ways, new ideas. Perhaps pessimistic people fear change? They focus on the problem because their driver can only see the problem, not the possibilities in the problem to solve it? Fear or emotional binds telling them, there is no way out of this? The feeling is defitinitely a part of this. Someone who is in joy of being, has more ability to feel optimistic, than someone who is unable to feel that natural joy of being. In some ways the joy of being alive is a positive driver as I see it. It drives towards life and new creation.

In some ways, I suppose forward thinkers can move to fast for people who need to pull up and sit a long time, ponder deeper the problem as it is. Feel miserable and deflated, defeated and pessimistic about it all. But then again if they still keep living their life, it’s just their attitude, life still goes on. If they change their attitude then that’s a bonus.

I think your right about the ‘stand alone’ in optimism. It can be wonderfully liberating to be in that state when the herd mentality are all reinforcing their attitudes one way. You may not influence change through the herd but the off shoot of your creation supports in other ways by just being open to possibilities.
Creation often calling you where your possibilities are open too.

[Found Goat]

The general zeitgeist of the modern culture – as evidenced by popular entertainment and today's younger generation – is one that is steeped in, if not at times glorifies, nihilism. In the hyper-masculine world we live in, it’s considered manly of men to be tough and cynical and for the most part guys who are sensitive, easygoing, laidback, and who find the company of curmudgeons and downbeats to be disagreeable, are often erroneously regarded as oddballs and weaklings.

In contrast to the perennially downbeat, there are certain people who seem chronically, almost pathologically upbeat, but you get the sense that they've been sheltered from the metaphysical darkness. Either that or their constant and expressive euphoria may be dietary related. Yet perhaps counterfeit are their high spirits, the displayed “optimism,” empty, shallow, and ungrounded.

(Optimism, not to be confused with the Positive Thinking Movement, or PTM – which I consider much of it to be hooey – that is more a mystical philosophy than it is a down-to-earth, practical psychology.)

I’m of the opinion that it’s important to keep a balanced outlook on life, neither in giddy denial nor as a stark realist, in acknowledgement that life isn't supposed to be all “sunshine and roses” and that those who think so inevitably become depressed in their not being able to come to terms with such a realization. Are expressively, pathologically happy people living in denial? I have long maintained this to be the case. Perhaps chronically upbeat people don't care that the world is as it is outside of their own individual lives – a fallen world that is generally corrupt, unfair, dishonest, deceitful, hateful, wicked ... hence, at times depressing for those who care about the larger world they inhabit and wish for it to change for the better and the good.

Personally, I consider myself to be a rather upbeat individual – a positive-realist – despite my reticent and reserved nature. We live in a generally extroverted culture and many presume that if you’re not enthusiastic and outgoing (i.e. showy in one’s cheerfulness) that you must be wanting in positivity.

Me, I seldom guffaw. When something strikes me funny, more often than not my reaction is either an amused grin or, on rare occasions, a chuckle. Does that make me and others of my introverted disposition more serious than those who display their amusement to others by way of the knee-slap or the yuk? Only a shallow and likely extroverted person would erroneously think so. Why, some of the most jocular people are those with dry, wry, and droll senses of humor, that hardly ever laugh at what other people find funny, let alone their own facetious remarks. In my opinion, one must take care not to confuse and equate jocularity with, say, the goofy antics and juvenile attitude of the superficial class clown or the daffy scatterbrain who's always giddy and giggling.

Personas can be deceiving. (For example, I wonder if certain perceived misanthropes are not just disgruntled idealists?) It could be the case that a chronically happy person may be a superficial person, or, if a religionist, one who has deluded herself into idealist convictions, at the expense of questioning everything.

A lot of stand-up comics and comedians, who give off the impression of their being happy during their performances have been known to suffer from depression. Indeed, gaiety often may be a pretense, though whether sincere or put-on cheerful, giggly, gregarious people, IMO, do not usually have the quality of depth, feeling, and pensiveness associated with intellectual maturity.

My feeling is, is that gaiety is not the path to truth, nor is it its synonym. What are appearances, anyway? Heck, frowns are more honest than most smiles. And one who is poker-faced could very well be holding a straight flush. Who's to say?

An excellent read on this topic is an essay that was penned by Hellen Keller and first published back in 1903, titled “Optimism.” It is of slight textual weight but immensely filling, intellectually stimulating, and morally nutritious.

Ms. Keller's crux, is that an optimist is a person who is happy (or at least content) regardless of his or her circumstances. That optimism is a mental outlook, first and foremost. It isn't about living with one's head in the sand or in the clouds.

In a physical sense, light cannot be distinguished without the presence of darkness in the universe. Metaphysically, as well, light and darkness are interconnected, epitomized in the silver lining. This, what is known as the union of opposites. Long-suffering. Perseverance. Resilience. Perhaps these hold meaning more than anything else if one manages to endure and overcome difficulties and hardships and trials. It could even be argued that in the case of hedonism, beneath the constant mirth and pleasure-seeking, this might only be pessimism in disguise, as it tends to be a mindset of one that is forgetfully accepting of the world as it is.

In “Optimism,” the authoress recognizes the genuine advancements that have been made in recent history within humane, civilized societies; in medical science, for example, and that legitimate progress – not mere change – has been the result of man seeking to make a better world for the human race in the here-and-now, be it medically, as with the extending of the human life-span, or by way of creating creature comforts.

Here I note the types of individuals that have done much in the domesticating and modernizing of the human being: neither cynical materialists nor stagnant religionists with their eyes on some hereafter. Quite so, if it were left up to religionists, humankind, as far as modern-day conveniences are concerned, would still be living in the Dark Age.

[JustBe]

Originally Posted by Found Goat

The general zeitgeist of the modern culture – as evidenced by popular entertainment and today's younger generation – is one that is steeped in, if not at times glorifies, nihilism. In the hyper-masculine world we live in, it’s considered manly of men to be tough and cynical and for the most part guys who are sensitive, easygoing, laidback, and who find the company of curmudgeons and downbeats to be disagreeable, are often erroneously regarded as oddballs and weaklings.

In contrast to the perennially downbeat, there are certain people who seem chronically, almost pathologically upbeat, but you get the sense that they've been sheltered from the metaphysical darkness. Either that or their constant and expressive euphoria may be dietary related. Yet perhaps counterfeit are their high spirits, the displayed “optimism,” empty, shallow, and ungrounded.

(Optimism, not to be confused with the Positive Thinking Movement, or PTM – which I consider much of it to be hooey – that is more a mystical philosophy than it is a down-to-earth, practical psychology.)

I’m of the opinion that it’s important to keep a balanced outlook on life, neither in giddy denial nor as a stark realist, in acknowledgement that life isn't supposed to be all “sunshine and roses” and that those who think so inevitably become depressed in their not being able to come to terms with such a realization. Are expressively, pathologically happy people living in denial? I have long maintained this to be the case. Perhaps chronically upbeat people don't care that the world is as it is outside of their own individual lives – a fallen world that is generally corrupt, unfair, dishonest, deceitful, hateful, wicked ... hence, at times depressing for those who care about the larger world they inhabit and wish for it to change for the better and the good.

Personally, I consider myself to be a rather upbeat individual – a positive-realist – despite my reticent and reserved nature. We live in a generally extroverted culture and many presume that if you’re not enthusiastic and outgoing (i.e. showy in one’s cheerfulness) that you must be wanting in positivity.

Me, I seldom guffaw. When something strikes me funny, more often than not my reaction is either an amused grin or, on rare occasions, a chuckle. Does that make me and others of my introverted disposition more serious than those who display their amusement to others by way of the knee-slap or the yuk? Only a shallow and likely extroverted person would erroneously think so. Why, some of the most jocular people are those with dry, wry, and droll senses of humor, that hardly ever laugh at what other people find funny, let alone their own facetious remarks. In my opinion, one must take care not to confuse and equate jocularity with, say, the goofy antics and juvenile attitude of the superficial class clown or the daffy scatterbrain who's always giddy and giggling.

Personas can be deceiving. (For example, I wonder if certain perceived misanthropes are not just disgruntled idealists?) It could be the case that a chronically happy person may be a superficial person, or, if a religionist, one who has deluded herself into idealist convictions, at the expense of questioning everything.

A lot of stand-up comics and comedians, who give off the impression of their being happy during their performances have been known to suffer from depression. Indeed, gaiety often may be a pretense, though whether sincere or put-on cheerful, giggly, gregarious people, IMO, do not usually have the quality of depth, feeling, and pensiveness associated with intellectual maturity.

My feeling is, is that gaiety is not the path to truth, nor is it its synonym. What are appearances, anyway? Heck, frowns are more honest than most smiles. And one who is poker-faced could very well be holding a straight flush. Who's to say?

An excellent read on this topic is an essay that was penned by Hellen Keller and first published back in 1903, titled “Optimism.” It is of slight textual weight but immensely filling, intellectually stimulating, and morally nutritious.

Ms. Keller's crux, is that an optimist is a person who is happy (or at least content) regardless of his or her circumstances. That optimism is a mental outlook, first and foremost. It isn't about living with one's head in the sand or in the clouds.

In a physical sense, light cannot be distinguished without the presence of darkness in the universe. Metaphysically, as well, light and darkness are interconnected, epitomized in the silver lining. This, what is known as the union of opposites. Long-suffering. Perseverance. Resilience. Perhaps these hold meaning more than anything else if one manages to endure and overcome difficulties and hardships and trials. It could even be argued that in the case of hedonism, beneath the constant mirth and pleasure-seeking, this might only be pessimism in disguise, as it tends to be a mindset of one that is forgetfully accepting of the world as it is.

In “Optimism,” the authoress recognizes the genuine advancements that have been made in recent history within humane, civilized societies; in medical science, for example, and that legitimate progress – not mere change – has been the result of man seeking to make a better world for the human race in the here-and-now, be it medically, as with the extending of the human life-span, or by way of creating creature comforts.

Here I note the types of individuals that have done much in the domesticating and modernizing of the human being: neither cynical materialists nor stagnant religionists with their eyes on some hereafter. Quite so, if it were left up to religionists, humankind, as far as modern-day conveniences are concerned, would still be living in the Dark Age.

Thankyou. I really enjoyed what you shared, covered in this response. You bring up some important points and all makes sense to me. I’m an introverted processor, so I appreciated your look into that stream. I’ve become more extroverted through practice of being more open, so I suppose I would say that balanced outlook you mention has served me in this way. I think sometimes the weight of the world inwardly carried by many introverts, can definitely send a signal, that they may be less optimistic in their outlook, but sometimes I’ve found this not to be true. People can confuse inward processing with looking and being less optimistic about life and themselves. Thd big bold bubbly energetic extroverts seeking energy and outlets from group energy, can be very deceiving as you mentioned.

Helen Keller’s book you mentioned sounds interesting. I think her view ties in with my own. In some ways the journey of acceptance has built a deeper opening to joy in me, as well as opening my mind beyond my own perceived limitations, has granted me a more positive and upbeat outlook. As a predominate feeler, once I cleared my conditioned mindset /emotional binds into balanced awareness, I began to understand the natural arising of my joyful self, sourced from my true state.

[Altair]

For some people optimism comes naturally and for other people it's pessimism. With this I don't mean depression or 'being sad' or 'being happy', etc. It's just a general outlook one may have towards problems in life, at work, etc. and how one approaches problems. Some people think about negative impacts of x or negative outcome of y, analysing things, thinking things over etc. OTOH, there's loads of people who think the exact opposite way, and they usually have certain characteristics also. We can't all be hip managers nor can we all be introverted analysers, but the extroverted ''happy image'' people will always claim the high ground though. To them it's all about the image, the presentation, giving off a ''positivity vibe'', being the ''light of the place'' etc. It's mostly a facade.

From my observations and from the research I've read degrees of optimism/pessimism also correlate with intelligence. It's also true for certain belief systems..

[Phaelyn]

The glass is half full.

[Unseeking Seeker]

***

An optimist looks for solutions when the pessimist sees only difficulty

The realist in acceptance renews consciousness in centred continuity

***

[ocean breeze]

Originally Posted by Phaelyn

The glass is half full.

I tend to see the glass as half empty. Perhaps i'm optimistic enough to see emptiness in a positive light.

[Starman]

As I believe that energy, or spirit, is the foundation for everything; how we interact with our own energy, or spirit, determines our outlook. If I am uptight it is because there is and obstruction in the flow of my energy.

Energy plus obstruction equals friction.

If we have friction in the flow of energy passing through us, our charkas, etc., we most likely will struggle to have a positive outlook. But when energy is flowing through us unobstructed life appears very positive when we are uplifted by our own energy flow. We feel a certain way because of the flow of our own energy, and we consciously or unconsciously determine the nature of our own energetic flow.

People feel uplifted when they exercise or do meditation, etc., because these things tend to enhance our flow of energy. They tend to help us let go and open ourselves allowing for a more efficient flow. There are many ways that we obstruct our own energy flow. The way we think, speak, or act, can cause tension which interferes with our flow of energy.

Our intake, what we ingest, eat, drink, etc., can also effect our flow of energy. In my opinion and optimist is often someone who readily lets go to a hopeful outcome, and that attitude alone can assist in helping the flow of our energy. Letting go is key, but there are realistic optimist and unrealistic optimists. Its’ all a matter of interpretation.

We are bio-electrical beings, living energy, emulating the planets, suns, and moons. We radiate energy like the sun, we have a magnetism and wax and wane like the moon. Like the planets we have people and things that are in our orbit, and we live our lives in mostly circular patterns, revolving around this or that. Our attitude gives us our outlook, as the saying goes, attitude determines altitude.

[Molearner]

I would suggest that an optimist has an intuitive mantra of...."this too shall pass". Also, optimism can be a result of one's God concept.....i.e. if one believes in a loving God would more likely be an optimist....if one believes in a vengeful God more likely to be a pessimist...….this, in a way, reduces it to a question of faith(what one has faith in).

[JustBe]

Originally Posted by Altair

For some people optimism comes naturally and for other people it's pessimism. With this I don't mean depression or 'being sad' or 'being happy', etc. It's just a general outlook one may have towards problems in life, at work, etc. and how one approaches problems. Some people think about negative impacts of x or negative outcome of y, analysing things, thinking things over etc. OTOH, there's loads of people who think the exact opposite way, and they usually have certain characteristics also. We can't all be hip managers nor can we all be introverted analysers, but the extroverted ''happy image'' people will always claim the high ground though. To them it's all about the image, the presentation, giving off a ''positivity vibe'', being the ''light of the place'' etc. It's mostly a facade.

From my observations and from the research I've read degrees of optimism/pessimism also correlate with intelligence. It's also true for certain belief systems..

Your right about different processing styles. An optimistic outlook solves problems that way, a less positive outlook initially or what we might name pessimistic, could well be a platform to resolution in this way. In the end people resolve stuff regardless of outlook. It could well mean a pessimist has more processing time or processors in another way to find solutions. So maybe attitude or approach means nothing. We all find our way regardless. Even if attitude intercedes the process, life itself often reflects back to show more in time anyway.