How much does our life depend on how we perceive it ourselves, what kind of optics we choose? Is it worth it to consciously “turn on” optimism and learn to enjoy a half-full glass? Psychologist Dmitry Leontiev is sure: first of all, you need to adequately assess the situation.
«Everything that is done is for the best.» You should not look for sacred knowledge about the structure of the world in this phrase — a person who knows exactly how everything will end, in fact, tries on the robes of the Lord God. For me, like Voltaire’s saying «Everything is for the best in this best of all possible worlds», it expresses a special attitude towards the world — an optimistic one.
The optimist believes that the glass is half full, that there is a positive side to everything. And even from a dramatic situation, he tries to gain valuable experience, as the Dalai Lama once said: «If you fail, do not miss the lesson.»
A pessimist who is convinced of the opposite will obviously not agree with this position: everything that is done leads to trouble or disaster. Such interlocutors can argue until they are hoarse and will not come to an agreement, because there is no objective truth here. These are different ways of interpreting the same facts.
As the American psychologist Martin Seligman has shown, optimists perceive good events as natural and controlled, and bad events as random and uncontrollable. Just like in Alexander Blok’s poem «Retribution»: «Erase random features — and you will see: the world is beautiful.» For pessimists, on the contrary, luck is random, and the world is naturally terrible.
Whose position is more advantageous — if we talk about our well-being?
Before “turning on” an optimist or a pessimist, it is worth remembering that there is also an adequate assessment, rational calculation, the ability to correlate the situation with experience. Agree, if your friend has always behaved in a certain way, there is no reason to think that next time he will act differently.
The optimism of a person who substitutes faith for what can be analyzed looks naive and superficial.
What makes us optimists and pessimists is the experience of the very first days, weeks and months of life.
But often there are no objective criteria for assessing reality, and then we have to either hope for the best or prepare for the worst. And here, in most cases, optimism is more advantageous than pessimism.
After all, our views of the world do not so much reflect reality as they shape it. Someone who believes in free will acts differently than someone who believes everything is predetermined. And the results are different, because they are due to different actions.
Pessimism calls us to give up: since any action is doomed to failure, they are devoid of any meaning. Optimism, on the contrary, supports our efforts and therefore leads to better results. So believing in the best is not exactly right, but at least useful.
True, it must be admitted that it is not easy to correct one’s life attitudes: the experience of the very first days, weeks and months of life makes us optimists and pessimists. It is then that we begin to perceive the world around us as a hostile or benevolent place. Even deep therapeutic work does not always help to consciously change this feeling.
But accustoming ourselves to critically assess the situation first will not prevent any of us. After all, water in a glass—half empty or full—occupies 50% of the volume. And in many circumstances this will be the most correct wording.
Prepared by Alla Anufrieva.