How full is your magnifying glass?

You know the saying:

The pessimist looks at the glass and says, “It is half empty.”

The optimist looks at the glass and says, “It is half full.”

Then there is the one where the realist adds his comment. “I think the glass is full of pee.”

i call myself ‘the eternal optimist’, especially when it comes to sport watching because i like to believe til the absolute last moment that my guy or team can pull it off, even at times when it is bordering on impossible.

and this cartoon from ‘Poorly Drawn Lines’ illustrates it beautifully:

with the original glass scenario, the situation has not changed, only the perspective regarding it. the optimist is choosing to focus on the positive of what the situation has presented and celebrate the existence of something. the pessimist is instead choosing to look at what is missing, and respond to the lack of a thing.

is one better than the other? personally, i don’t think the pessimist is very helpful, because he doesn’t often come up with a plan to change things. pessimism generally deflates, takes the air out of sales, slows down movement.

i do prefer the optimist [maybe cos i generally am one and think i’m pretty cool] but at the same time there can be the danger that the optimist on occasion has their heads in the cloud and their positivity can prevent them from realistically assessing the genuine possibilities in a situation andso ‘hoping for the best’ or ‘anticipating the miracle’ can replace doing the next thing that needs to be done.

so maybe the realist is the best person to have around [because no one wants to drink a glass of pee] but with strong elements of optimism to keep him hopeful, anticipationary and to help him expect the best of people, which is a strong trait of an optimist.

what about you? which of these three would you most closely identify yourself with? anyone have some positives to take from the pessimist?
and do you think it is possible to change from one to the other?

brett andy to vote round 7

so once upon a time there was a guy called jack handey who wrote some classic mostly one liners which were funny and random and sometimes both all at once… this inspired me to try my own and we are on the seventh round of voting – so if any of these make you smile or laugh or think about laughing really loudly then please let me know in a comment which ones do it for you…

“Instead of a regular air-bag in your car, how about a whoopee-cushion bag? The melodic farting sound as you have an accident sending out the message that we’re going to have as much fun with this thing as possible.” [Brett Andy]

“At the Beer-and-Chess festival everything was going well until I took a stranger’s castle.” [Brett Andy]

“My parents sent me to improve classes to try get me to come out of my shell, but it didn’t work. The paper mache interior was just too warm and inviting for me to want to leave.” [Brett Andy]

“As I threw my dart straight at the bulls eye I suspected my day at the rodeo might be ending prematurely.” [Brett Andy]

“I went fly-fishing the other day for the first time. I was a complete failure. I still need to figure out how to keep the bait in the air long enough to interest them.” [Brett Andy]

“I took two sheep and a goat to Wall Street but no-one wanted to trade with me.” [Brett Andy]

“I bought an old dog and quickly taught him a new trick. Now I’m scared I may have peaked.” [Brett Andy]

“The other day I was so embarrassed when I went up to a total stranger in the shops and congratulated her on her pregnancy. Turns out he wasn’t.” [Brett Andy]

“I think the real question we should be asking is WHY did the chicken cross the road?” [Brett Andy]

“If a T-Rex ever got into a fight with a man, who would win? Answer: The man. Did I mention it was an intellectual fight?”

“It’s time the world started being a little more sensitive and honouring the fact that maybe Wally is just wanting some alone time away from us all.” [Brett Andy]

“Tinky Winky, Dipsy, Laa-Laa & Po recently swore off technology & each lost around 120 pounds of weight. Now no-one knows what to call them.” [Brett Andy]

“If you’re Happy and you know it, there’s probably a dwarven mining axe somewhere with your name on it.” [Brett Andy]

and if you want to see the full list of brett andy’s head along to http://brettandy.wordpress.com for the rest of them…