Don’t cling too hard to pessimism

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Don’t cling too hard to pessimism

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According to the nature of the world, there are both good and bad aspects of human society. Every person, at some point in their life, is likely to encounter something unpleasant. In such moments, instead of holding on to hope for the future, people often dwell more on the painful experiences of the past. This is what we call “pessimism”. Rejecting hope and filling both the body and mind with negativity — inside and out — can lead a person to become emotionally and socially disconnected.

Pessimism is not something that must be completely eradicated. Sometimes, it can simply be a perspective. However, that view should not be tightly held onto and allowed to cloud our vision. This article presents why that is something worth keeping in mind.

One of the reasons this happened is that those who uphold an extremist pessimism have had to go through life bitterly. Since their childhood, they may suffer from the impacts of too much bullying, poverty, pressure, coercion, scolding, severe punishment, more than faults, and the pessimism attitude of seniors in society.

Moreover, those holding on to pessimism intentionally organize followers with the dissemination of their pessimism. While talking about some topics based on pessimism, they support their pessimistic discussions with each other and draw conclusions based on pessimism. Hence, their talking points and critical thinking cannot break through the pessimism. Consequently, they cannot see or consider anything beyond pessimism.

What is Pessimism?

Pessimism is the belief that nothing good can be expected in the future and that everything happening now is likely to result in negative outcomes. The content we often see in newspapers, social media, and on TV tends to reinforce this pessimistic outlook. Whether it’s the economy, politics, or physical or mental health, people tend to focus only on the negative aspects.

Pessimism can harm a person’s mindset and emotions. When people stop expecting anything positive from the future, they are more likely to experience discouragement, a decline in morale, and a growing sense of disconnect from the world around them.

Why Should We Avoid Holding onto Pessimism?

1. It damages mental health

Constantly embracing a pessimistic mindset can lead to depression and anxiety. When a person is repeatedly overwhelmed by negative thoughts and hopelessness, it becomes hard to see any light in their life, leaving them feeling emotionally exhausted and stuck.

2. Loss of opportunities

When hope for good things fades, the drive to create a better future diminishes. The mindset of “It’s impossible” can destroy even the possibilities that are achievable, simply through negative thinking.

3. Breakdown of Social Relationships

People tend to avoid those who are constantly dissatisfied, distrustful, and lack hope for the future. This creates distance and tension in relationships, leading to social isolation and weakened connections.

Sometimes, what does pessimism help with?

Actually, it’s not always a bad thing. In some situations, it simply acts as a step up — a kind of expectation that prompts us to be more cautious about the future.

• It helps ensure safety and better management by encouraging risk awareness.

• It can lead to thoughts that value happiness more deeply.

• Being able to work steadily without expectations can be beneficial from a certain perspective.

However, these views are only useful occasionally and are not suitable to hold on to all the time.

What Should You Do?

1.Building a New Perspective

It needs to gradually create a more positive mindset. Even without turning it into a mere hope, having the awareness that “everything can work out” can help you grow step by step.

2.Asking Questions

Questions like “Is my thinking accurate?” or “Are there other perspectives I haven’t considered yet?” can open the door to shifting your viewpoint.

3.Noticing the Good Things

It is necessary to record one thoughtful or small but meaningful moment from your daily life that can lift your spirit.

4.Cultivating Curiosity for Mental Growth

Emphasis must be placed on engaging yourself in reading, learning, or exploring hobbies to help rein in negative thinking.

Everybody has a chance to hold up both optimism and pessimism as they like. However, if they do everything based on pessimism, they can see everything with negative results. It may be right or wrong, but a large percentage of results will be wrong. Otherwise, they can see everything with an optimistic essence. If so, they can see most of the events which happen in society with the essence of optimism. In this regard, those who see everything in a negative sense will first suffer from the bad impacts of their thoughts. Those holding up the optimism will have the chance to enjoy peace of mind.

With regard to pessimism, I have a true story. While serving duties at a governmental department, a friend of mine worked together with me in the same workplace. But he joined such a workplace after me. So, he was a junior in my section automatically. He could show off his outstanding skill at work due to his higher concentration on the functions of the workplace. Despite the duties of a junior, he was more skilful than me as well as other seniors. In our workplace, we did not discriminate between the posts of junior and senior, although these were not set by the departmental rules.

However, my friend forgot the provisions related to the hierarchical rules of the department. All of us worked at night, so we all raised relations with one another, setting aside the strict departmental rules. At that time, as he was skilful in working, he had to be assigned to a higher post. He deserved to secure the senior post. Albeit not a personal attack on me, I knew he was never satisfied with the criteria for junior and senior posts. As such, he always scolded higher seniors and searched for faults in their work. He never talked about optimistic topics and did not praise others for their work results.

Indeed, I was very sorrowful to know the root causes of sparking his attitude. Since his childhood, he had lived in a staff quarter of an organization where his father served duties. He had known that some officers assigned his father heavily. If his father failed to accomplish the assignments, his father was scolded by those officers. My friend had bitterly seen such occurrences since his childhood. Such occurrences became scars on his soul.  Moreover, their family was very poor due to the low income of his father. Consequently, my friend sought the best outlet for the mind to take a dependent environment. Furthermore, he was never satisfied with the scolding of those officers and took revenge on them.

When he became an adult, he did not meet with those officers, but his revenge did not disappear from his mind. Therefore, he sought a third-party person on whom he would take his revenge. When he joined the workplace, he searched for prey to utilize his trauma.  However, the organizational setup of relevant organizations did not allow bullying someone as prey. As such, he unintentionally disseminated his pessimism to others in the workplace.

First, his pessimism was useful in analyzing some events. His assessments of some occurrences were right, but these ideologies were based on pessimism. However, he forgot all occurrences and all things can be reviewed with two or more perspectives. The truth can be sought in the right things or in the wrong things, or in both right and wrong things. Except for four universal truths discoursed by the Lord Buddha, even truths identified by society can change depending on the situation and time.

Gradually, my friend could not accept everything as he assessed these with pessimism. So, his soul was very tired. In the worst situation, the heads of the department who had handled the organization did not trust my friend because his attitude was not usual in the society of coworkers. Those officials accepted that my friend was dangerous to the workplace due to holding up productivity in all work processes. It was a time of failure in my friend’s life. Officials of the organizations in successful eras did not count the successful work of my friends. Consequently, he lost all measures, including promotion of ranks in the workplace. His pessimism brought a great loss to his life. Finally, he left the workplace and waved to us, leaving a valuable lesson.

Uphold both optimism and pessimism in analyzing something
Practically, most people avoid relationships with pessimists, and they do not dare to seek suggestions and consultation from pessimists. This is because the idea of depending on pessimism may lead to failure in initiating any project. It is necessary to review any incidents based on both optimism and pessimism; too much pessimism can not only prevent the best solution but also prevent an acceptable answer. Generally, pessimists never have a good opinion of anyone. Everyone those pessimists see becomes prey to their gossip. As such, many people are in fear of occurrences for their dignity, so even if they unavoidably seek advice from a pessimist, they do not prefer the gossip of the pessimist about them.
Pessimism is a feeling that no one can be blamed for. Everyone can have perspectives that don’t align with hope. However, if you tightly cling to those negative views and willfully ignore other possibilities, it can cause serious harm throughout your life. An approach to address a problem with pessimism has the lowest percentage of securing success. It is because pessimists are never satisfied with everything and everybody. As they cannot keep a clear soul, they do not have a fine facial appearance. Hence, they cannot keep abreast of optimists in facial appearances. Consequently, they have rare times of happiness and pleasure as well as smiling. That’s why the message “Don’t hold on tightly to pessimism” is a reminder that everyone should take to heart.
I don’t emphasize that anyone holds up pessimism. However, everyone must hold up both optimism and pessimism. They have to analyze and assess everything, applying both optimism and pessimism to have the best result in all issues. Especially, everybody needs to consider that in approaching a problem, using just optimism cannot reveal the truth. Likewise, pessimism alone cannot be useful in analyzing a problem in a correct manner. Only when everybody approaches any problem with both optimism and pessimism will they have the most appropriate and correct solution. One thing is certain: those who hold on to a negative mindset will always be troubled, while the optimists will live with joy and happiness.

Source: The Global New Light of Myanmar