Is the Glass Half Full or Half Empty? Articles | Self Esteem

By: Darren Williger

The concept of the glass being half full or half empty is quite a cliché. But think about it. What do you consider the glass to be, after all?

If you came second place in a competition, how would you take the result? Would you go into depression about not coming first and vow never to participate again, or would you be jubilant that you at least came second, and will try harder the next time?

There are such options in our lives all the time. We could be optimists, or we could be pessimists. We may label our achievements as victories, or we may label them as defeats. To a very great extent, we can control how our lives turn out to be.

That is all the more reason why we must keep in us an optimist viewpoint.

Optimism means keeping a positive outlook of things and remaining in good cheer. It means being receptive of the success you get in whatever field, and not being very much despondent about the setbacks you get in your life.

Though the merits of optimism are many, it is almost saddening to see that many of us are falling into the pits of pessimistic thoughts and then tumbling over the depression. And this is true for all, whether they are young or old. Depression begins at a much lower age than it used too. It is not just adults who are suffering from stress today; a lot of kids show alarming symptoms of the condition.

Here are some of the reasons why you should always try and keep an optimistic point of view on life:

1. Pessimists will keep a lot of stock with the bad things that are happening in life. They will criticize and detract, and subsequently, they will not be able to achieve anything. The same things happen with optimists, but they condition themselves to think positively even about the setbacks that they get in life. That is the basic difference between an optimist and a pessimist. It lies in the way they explain the problems that plague them. Optimists view problems are minor hitches in their scheme of things; pessimists might consider them as dead ends.
2. Another point is that the optimists are much better at focusing on things. They will love to interpret things in a positive manner. Even if something bad happens, they will paint it in a positive color. That is the reason why optimists can easily sail though the setbacks of life. They will always hold the view that things will improve one day, howsoever much bleak they are at present. At the same time, they will be aware that these things will happen again. And when they happen, they will again take those in their stride.
3. Optimistic people are not much deterred when there are changes in their environments, or when there are some unpredictable turns of events or when there are sudden tragedies in their lives. Even in blinding defeat, optimists can find out their ways out and make progress.
4. People love to be with optimistic people. That is because optimists live in their own sweet little world and they do not much concern themselves about others when they are thinking about their own problems. Meaning that, they are not dependent on other people. They are self-sufficient and that is why they attract other people to them. In all communities, optimism is quite desirable. For obvious reasons, people with optimistic approaches to life are preferred over predictors of doom. If you look around you, you will see that it is the optimistic people who win elections and are sought after for advice most of the time.
5. Optimists are relentless pursuers of their dreams. Even if they are bogged down by stressful conditions, they will not acknowledge these problems quite so much. They will keep trying. Pessimists will lower their reserves halfway into the race. While optimists persevere, pessimists give up. Gradually, they try to achieve the ambitions they have set in life.
6. Optimistic people also have better health, and this has been proved medically. When a person has a positive outlook towards life, there is a marked improvement in the way the person deals with things. Optimists like a more unfettered and disease-free life, and their lives are generally longer than those who harbor negative thoughts and ill-will in their minds.

The best thing is that being an optimist is free! So, it is really a wise decision to take if you become an optimist today. You will find success beckoning you from every avenue, and you will learn that you can get up and walk even if you fall down. And, on the way, you can even convert a few of those pessimists to see that their glasses are actually half-full.