Benefits of being a 'Pessimist'
Benefits of being a 'Pessimist'
Pessimism originally means -'The tendency to see the worst aspect of things or believe that the worst will happen,' or simply put, 'negativity'.
Being positive is good, but only to a certain extent. There will be situations when we have to think negatively to come to a certain conclusion.Let's say,
The Wright Brothers (the positive thinkers) wished to give the world a faster mode of transport and hence invented the airplane,
another person (negative thinker) imagined a plane crash and invented the 'parachute',
anyways 'necessity is the mother of invention', and it does not matter how we realized our necessities.
Every person is a combination of negative and positive complexions. It just depends on the purpose it is used for.
If a person is noticed using his negative psychology or safety engineering in something he believes is for a good purpose, then it is wrong to call him a negative person until he has proven his purpose.
Pessimism has few real-good-advantages;
1. Lowers expectations, removes disappointment,
Yes, a negative person is considered to enjoy his success more than a positive one.
Let's take the example of the job interview of an optimist and a pessimist.
- The optimist strategically plans for his interview, decides the type of person he wants to represent himself as, surfs the internet for "Best tips before an interview session", "Top 10 questions, every interviewer would ask", "How to be the best candidate in an interview" and many more.
He tries to look confident and imagines himself getting the job. He also prevents all those negative thoughts which could spoil his morale.
On the other hand
- The pessimist imagines of all the things that could go wrong in an interview, shows an extra careful attitude, becomes defensive in nature, rethinks his questions and answers and prepares himself almost perfectly.
He also plans of what he does when he gets the job or gets rejected but ultimately he is mentally prepared for everything that could happen to him.
I surely wouldn't know who gets the job among them as they are just imaginary and we do not know much about them,
but all I know is that if the optimist gets rejected, he would be disappointed watching his expectations crash and,
if the pessimist is rejected he surely would be heartbroken,
But he the would start moving towards the other path he has prepared for himself.
2. Prevents procrastination
People who are generally considered negative also have the ability to think about the long term.
If they are given a task to complete, and it was comfortable for them to delay working on it, they would still be finishing their work 'well before time' just for the reason that they could imagine the future and predict negative outcomes of delaying.
There is a saying by Kabir Das,
" काल करे सो आज कर, आज करै सो अब | पल में परलय होयगी, बहुरी करेगा कब |"
Which when translated simply means that "We must complete our work on time."
But he also says that "there could be a disaster on our way, which may compel us to repeat our unfinished task."
So, can you call him a negative thinker with a positive purpose? Your opinion.
3.Turns anxiety into action
Positivism prevents anxiety. Yes, a good thing but as said, not always.
If we are negative thinkers on a few important decisions like - Life, studies, goals, opportunities etc., we can indeed turn anxiety into action.(if there is any)
Anxiety arises mostly when you are stuck at something or you are finding a way out of a loophole. Everyone does fell anxious at different and unexpected times. Nothing wrong with it, but it matters on how we beat our anxiety. I would say "Think about it", "guess what went wrong","don't worry, you will find a way out".
But in reality, it is 'you' who can help carry yourself from anxiety/confusion/fear to "action".
(Yes, only you)
Simply put,
Think about what YOU can do to bring yourself out of anxiety or any other similar situation.
Think negatively about why your idea can't/won't work.
(after a little effort)
Bring yourself to the safest conclusion or decision (taking into consideration of all necessary factors).
WORK FOR IT!
Two Kilograms of Botox could kill the our entire living species, but when used in minimal quantities, it could create miracles in the medical and cosmetic department. Kim Kardashian would surely agree.
Similarly,
"Too much of negativity is harmful, but a little of it is very useful."
