How would you describe yourself as a thinker? Are you optimistic or pessimistic? Are you always looking with hope to the future or are you preoccupied with the worst case scenario? Are you satisfied with however you think, or do wish you don’t think the way you do? Like many other things in life, I believe there’s a certain balance between the two ends of the spectrum that we should try to reach in order to keep a clear mind in the face of life’s peaks and valleys.

Optimism is great, isn’t it? No matter how bad things may get, it’s the hope for the future that drives us onward. No one likes being miserable, and without hope for brighter days in the future, we’d have nothing to motivate us to get up and keep going. Even in their darkest days, those with a strong sense of optimism will still be fighting through adversity.

But, of course, one can always be too optimistic in certain scenarios. What I mean by that is there are times when focusing too much on the future distracts from the present. In other words, when you’re so absorbed in what you hope is to come, it’s easy to think that everything will go the way you want it to in the meantime.

Now, that doesn’t mean that I’m promoting pessimism. In fact, I believe pessimism in its strictest form shouldn’t have any place in our minds. It’s one thing to anticipate something bad happening based on certain observations, but people who are generally described as being pessimistic are typically the ones who always believe in the worst case scenario. It’s like someone who always arrives on time to class but is running late one day due to unforeseen circumstances and believes they will be scolded for it. Is it possible? Yeah, but is that the only possibility?

I guess the main point I’m making is that, while optimism and pessimism may have their uses from time to time, we should never dwell on either of them too much. In a previous article, I wrote about the pros and cons of introspection, and how spending too much time in our minds will begin to separate us from reality, regardless of whether we’re looking ahead with hope or despair. When it comes to daily life, we should maintain a healthy balance of the two in the hybrid known as realistic thinking. Yeah, I know it might sound obvious, but think about it. If optimism and pessimism both involve focusing specifically on certain outcomes, isn’t it better to take all possible outcomes into account? That way we have a more accurate picture of the scenario. “Look at the big picture,” the saying goes.

That being said, I suppose you can’t always trust realism, either, can you? Because sometimes even our perception of reality doesn’t match up with what’s really going on, does it? Bottom line, we all notice things in life and make predictions about them. When we do, it’s best to keep an open mind about what might happen, and above all, accept that we don’t know for sure until it actually happens. Whether you’re an optimistic, pessimistic, or realistic thinker, no one in this crazy world can tell the future.