Making the Right Choice between Optimism and Cynicism

Decisions are what map out an individual’s life. They are the sole determinants of where an individual finally ends up. Now, these decisions are based on two factors that an individual feels. Every decision requires detailing out the pros and cons and choosing which prevails over the other. The choice of making these decisions rest on the quality of optimism, pessimism, skepticism, and cynicism. While being pessimistic and cynical seem easy, portraying an optimistic side becomes difficult. However, without optimism one can hardly progress in their respective fields as being pessimistic and cynical limits a person’s horizons by wide angles. This article helps you come out of your shell and embrace the optimistic way to life. It may be difficult at first but with the right hope in mind and a heart filled with confidence, be sure to storm through!

Pessimism Vs Cynicism

Before starting the debate on why we must be optimistic, let us first be clear on why pessimism and cynicism are two different entities and how the latter dominates over the former when it comes to the question of harming oneself. When a person is pessimistic about life, they view how certain situations and decisions can lead to the worst-case scenarios and ponder over that. A pessimistic person always looks for the “what can go wrong” side before venturing out on a new adventure; or sometimes even an old one. Being pessimistic is harmful in every way possible as it causes the individual to overstress and overthink when all they need to do is take a deep breath and chill. Pessimism is served with a tonne of other side dishes, i.e, depression, anxiety, despondency, isolation, and despair. The more one harvests the pessimistic thoughts inside him, the more these illnesses keep attacking him and imperialize him as time passes. Thus, one must take steps so that they do not get buried under these thoughts and attitudes. 

On the other hand, a cynic is blatantly scornful about trusting others. To a cynic, every individual he crosses paths with performs deeds with the sole cause of self-interest and therefore, must never be trusted. A cynic can never be hopeful about any situation especially if it involves the presence of others as for them, trust issues dominate their entirety. They instantly avoid people who are motivated by ambition and goals and as a result can never achieve success. Being pessimistic can impact a person’s life more negatively than cynicism, however, being cynical also gets in the way of success.

Choosing Optimism

Being optimistic is the process of letting positivity surround you and look at life through its lens. Having an optimistic look at life is refreshing and fills the mind with joy and helps keep the body healthy. However, there is a major difference between being optimistic and being foolish. One must always consider major possible risks and threats and have something to fall back on if their decision goes in the wrong direction. With that being said, let us see why optimism is always the first choice when it is put side by side with cynicism.

Let us start by elaborating on an everyday life example. You are tired of your daily 9-5 job and are desperate for a change. You consider starting your start-up. However, while going through the research you find 80% of businesses fell. You look at that, think about how people are going to fail you, and how ultimately you are going to get cheated on. With that, you brush away your dream and carry on with your boring normal which only results in getting you frustrated, day in, and day out. But, at least you did not lose anything, right? Wrong. By being cynical about the decision, you lost harvesting your effort into your passion project. You lost the chance of fulfilling your dream and you lost the chance at a happier life. Being optimistic is risky. It takes a hell of a lot of guts to invest in your dreams without having a complete guarantee of how things will go. However, things always have a 50-50 chance of working out too. And with the right amount of effort, thought and a positive outlook, you can achieve unparalleled levels of success and finally live the life you always wanted to. All you need to do is be smart, have a well thought out plan and then, take the risk!