What does your glass look like? Is it half-empty? Or half-full with life’s lemons that you have ingeniously made into lemonade. How you see situations and yourself can have a profound impact on how you view the world.

Optimism vs. Pessimism

Current times can make it hard to view the world with rose-colored glasses. If you live life long enough, that rose-colored tint can begin to fade and tarnish. Tumbling into a pessimistic view of the world can be an easy default as you age and when things in life don’t go according to plan. It can be hard to see beauty in the day to day when everything looks so hopeless.

On the other hand, blind optimism is not the answer either. Ignorance may be bliss but it can also lead to pain. Refusing to see the ugly and the bad in many ways is just as bad as wallowing in it.

An optimist may see a light where there is none, but why must the pessimist always run to blow it out?

MICHEL DE SAINT-PIERRE, quoted in Wisdom for the Soul

Maybe stop worrying about what is or isn’t in the glass, and just enjoy the drink

It’s hard not to take in life’s stimuli and not get a little jaded, the trick may be trying to balance the good with the bad, the optimism with a little bit of pessimism. According to this article, there are some benefits to trying to achieve a balance.

This could be why so many are turning to mindfulness and adopting the discipline into their lives. Teachers like Thich Nhat Hanh, often talk about the power of mindfulness: taking in life’s moments as they come and pushing other thoughts and clutter away to focus on the here and now. It is a beautiful sentiment that sometimes doesn’t jibe well in Western society, which is focused on always being on the go and multi-tasking. However trying to achieve mindfulness in increments can help.

In the midst of natural disasters in can be crucial to experience optimism, pessimism, and mindfulness if you are going to weather the storm. As a west coast resident, Monette knows this first hand. With earthquakes being a common occurrence it’s imperative to not get too freaked out and take the rumbles and shaking in stride.

The government is often whom we turn to in times of natural disaster and crisis. That’s why it is nice to know that while they are sometimes a little slow to react to natural disasters they’ve got unnatural disasters covered. The CDC may not have a good plan for MERS but they do have a great guide for helping you prepare for the imminent zombie apocalypse. Yup folks, our tax dollars truly are hard at work.