Should One Live Their Life Optimistic or Pessimistic?

Let’s first define the two. According to Wikipedia,  the definition of being optimistic is the action of being hopeful and confident about the future. On the other hand, to be pessimistic is to be expecting the worst of things or believe that the worst will happen.

On paper, it may seem that the best way to live life is to be optimistic, for you always look for the best in people. You recognize the glass as being half full, not half empty like a pessimistic person. When one thinks of one being pessimistic, they think of one darkness. They think of a pessimistic person, as one who would stare at the tunnel’s dark abyss instead of the light at the end of it. But let me explain to you the benefits of optimism and pessimism, as well as the harms of both. 

Optimism: To live life optimistically is always to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Even during a bad day, they will still try and find the good in it. In the darkness of the night, they will look for the stars. To live optimistically is to be looking forward. To move on from the past and to only look forward. 

But that is the fatal flaw of living life optimistically, for if you are to live life only optimistically, you will forget about the past. You will forget the mistakes you made, and you might even repeat them. Optimism is great until it starts making you lazy. If you recognize the glass as half full, you may not strive to achieve a full glass. You may not desire to immediately escape the dark tunnel, as you recognize that the light will come someday. Optimism could get rid of one’s drive, but pessimism is no better. 

Pessimism: To live life pessimistically is not only to stare at the black abyss in the dark tunnel. To live life pessimistically is to point out the flaws in life. Living life pessimistically could create the drive for you to succeed. If you are too worried that the glass is half empty, you will strive to make it full. To recognize you are in a dark tunnel creates the drive to push forward and get out of it. 

However, pessimism could be as fatal as optimism, if not even more. To live life only pessimistically can make you go into a dark space. In this dark space, you will feel no way of getting out, but the only thing that can get you out is optimism, a sense of a drive. 

Pessimism and Optimism can both create a drive, but they can quickly kill that drive as well. If one is to balance pessimism and optimism, they will live a successful life. The optimism will provide a sense of comfort and the sense of hope, and the pessimism will create a sense of awareness. The question you need to ask yourself is not if you are living life optimistic or pessimistic, but if you are living a balanced life.