I am so bloody sick of being advised to be ‘realistic’!
F that!
What in hell is wrong with being a bloody, raging Optimist?
After all, the high priest of Positive Psychology, Martin Seligman, a self confessed crumudgeon, is probably the most vocal supporter of the positive effects (and affects) of optimism.
Optimists live longer! Have more fun!! And, are damn well more fun to be with!!!
So, why the hell do the Fing "Realists" act as if they are God’s blessed army, right-hand "man", and generally better than us.
I get called a "Flake". A "Polly Anna". Oh, and worst of all "unrealistic"!!
Oh, scary.
You bet I’m un-Fing-realistic!!
I’d be freaking dead if I weren’t.
It’s because I fucking well believe "THERE IS AN ANSWER" out there somewhere. Have gone after that answer will all my goddam unrealistic, optimism… that I have managed to beat the crap out of my Bipolar Affective Disorder and am pounding the shit out of the pain associated with my Fibro.
And, I’m bloody OPTIMISTIC that one day SOON.. . I will live without pain.
So, FUCK REALISM!!
March 25th, 2007 at 7:21 pm
In Sufism, we talk about the two wings of growth- the wing of Hope and the wing of Fear. We need both.
When you live with something like fibromyalgia, you already have had your fill of the wing of Fear… the wing of Hope that you are calling optimism is critical in the healing process.
So, let me cheer you on!
The other side is that if someone (not you, I know it’s not you, Lyle) isn’t facing the natural fear and contraction in their lives, and just living on ‘unrealistic hope’ they risk falling into heedlessness- they risk missing the important information that ‘natural consequences’ are giving them.
But, too far down the road of fear and you become paralyzed, frozen, unable to do anything, living in a smaller and smaller world.
Time to flap that wing of Hope…
March 26th, 2007 at 6:25 am
Thanks Mark!
You make a good point about facing our ‘constriction’.
Thanks for the encouragement to flap my Wing of Hope!
I encourage all you who read here to check out Mark’s Blog for spritual insights into the Heart of Business — http://heartofbusiness.com/wordpress/
Lyle