I have always loved the saying that “To an optimist realism looks a lot like pessimism“…or something to that effect
I’ve been criticized for being a pessimist, but I think I am a realist…I hope for the best but I always plan for the worst. It’s not a bad way to be, at least I don’t think so, because I am rarely caught completely off guard. It’s a function of being an over thinker … I spend too much time thinking through every hypothetical situation and potential conversation in an attempt to be prepared for any eventuality.
I had a manger tell me I was “a bit negative” once…to be fair…he also told my colleague that same thing and he definitely was not a negative person. We probably bonded over that a bit, and made our manager a bit nuts for awhile by calling out to each other over the cubicle walls “Being a bit negative today…aren’t you?” …and then we’d giggle when we’d hear our manager huff in his office.
So when this card flipped up in the deck this week, it resonated.
Pessimism is not a toxic trait, it can help with risk management planning, and that can help stick handle a situation, should it occur.
