Things that matter

Yet another year has come to an end and here we are, ready to step on the other side, into the unknown. Don’t worry, I won’t mention New Year resolutions; I don’t have any, I never had. Instead, I’ll present you a recipe that teaches you how to prepare a delicious New year! Sounds good, doesn’t it? I know, I know!

It is a classical recipe, kind of difficult to find, created by Katharina Elisabeth Goethe (1731-1808), mother of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. The ingredients are pretty common, you won’t encounter any trouble finding them.

Here is the recipe, bon apetit!
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As I promised in the two articles on the myths of pessimism (I and II), I’ll now tell you which one is better to be; an optimist or a pessimist.

And even though the above phrase might send out the impression that one of them is better than the other, the ‘sweet spot’ is a mix of the two; in equal proportions.

Kathy Lette, Australian best-seller novelist, believes that the most successful people are neither extremely optimistic nor extremely pessimistic, but a healthy combination of the two. And I completely agree with her!

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In the first post on the myths of pessimism, I have busted three major myths about it. To summarize:

1. The #1 myth: negative thinking is not more realistic than positive thinking
2. The #2 myth: pessimism is less agreeable than optimism
3. The #3 myth: pessimism creates worry, trouble and health issues, so we’re better off without it

Time has now come for two more myths.

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This time we’ll bathe in one truly important insight of Galileo Galilei, the father of modern science.

Galileo Galilei (15 February 1564 - 8 January 1642) was a Tuscan (Italian) physicist, mathematician, astronomer and philosopher who played a major role in the scientific revolution.

The quoted idea is of great importance, as it sheds a much needed ray of light on the works of many writers, bloggers and educators. We’d all like to be considered as ‘influential’ and eye-opening individuals for the society, but truth be told, we’re very limited in that regard.

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“Pessimism is only the name that men of weak nerves give to wisdom” – Bernard De Voto

Allow me to start this article by affirming that I’m not a pessimistic person. And I’m not an optimist either. I’m between them, I am both. In the words of Albert Schweizer, “To the question whether I am a pessimist or an optimist, I answer that my knowledge is pessimistic, but my willing and hoping are optimistic.”

Now, if we are to have a correct conversation here, we’ll need to establish a clear frame by defining the terms in discussion.

pessimism

1: an inclination to emphasize adverse aspects, conditions, and possibilities or to expect the worst possible outcome

2 a: the doctrine that reality is essentially evil b: the doctrine that evil overbalances happiness in life

optimism

1 : a doctrine that this world is the best possible world

2 : an inclination to put the most favorable construction upon actions and events or to anticipate the best possible outcome

In the age-old battle between the two, pessimists think optimists are foolish and optimists think pessimists make themselves unnecessarily miserable. And while most people have taken a position at one of the ends by being either essential optimists or essential pessimists, the common sense concept of equilibrium seems to have been forgotten.

equilibrium

a state of intellectual or emotional balance

But we digress. Let’s see what myths we have about pessimistic people.

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