I’m a Pessimistic Realist, am I the Bad Guy??
I tell people I’m far from an optimist and they stare at me like I developed horns at that instant.
I find it hard to grasp the general idea that everyone is expected to be optimistic. Though its easier to be hopeful than actually weigh the different ways things could go wrong in a situation. Being a realistic person with a hint of pessimism sure feels like hell when you’re with an optimist because what do you mean you have a deep cut on your ankle and you wish to wade in the ocean and hope you don’t bait a shark? .
Why do you foam in the mouth when I tell you that you wouldn’t get in to an event because you didn’t make reservations and you rely on the hopes that security may be kinder to you when you get there .
Most times I’d blame religion and motivational speakers. The former an opium for the masses, the latter.. well oh well.
Its like telling a mad man that he’d be president one day.
Maybe he could be but the chances are very slim
Note : I’m Nigerian and I’ve been to a church were someone was told read prophesied to, that he’d travel abroad and be a successful doctor(this person couldn’t afford to attend uni at that moment ) but he held that prophecy dearly. And if I had dared ask how that would have been remotely possible, I would have been the devil for a day.
My pessimism has caused me to weigh my options, always thinking of what could go wrong, already crafting a hundred wrong scenarios before I think of a good one, sometimes I think I rob myself of happiness that I forget to bask in my present joys or hope that better days are ahead.
Why would I step out without an umbrella when the weather forecast had said it would be a heavy downpour because I hope it would be a sunny day?
“My pessimism shields me”, I always declare because unlike going to the battlefield without an armor, my worse case scenarios meet a stiff resistance when faced with an actual occurrence. Because rather than buckling when dealt with a heavy impact, I can only stagger and yet remain upright.
I try to be self aware and be too realistic, but I realized people always wanted a way to cope and optimism was a drug. Others would get angry and call me a killjoy or desist from sharing their “hopeful”agendas.
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Unfortunately, that is who I am. For we can’t all be the same,
“The Lord God made us all” a phrase I say when I marvel at how diverse and distinct we all are, our individuality.
For in a gathering: the wise, fools
the considerate, the selfish
the kind, the haughty
the bold, the introvert
the jester, the voice of reasoning
the builder, the talker
the just, the cunning.
the loquacious, the shy
the emotional, the stoic.
So , like an even scale, while hope is a never ending evasion of reality, its important to know that seeing things as they are makes planning, decision making and recovery an bit easier. ❤
