Are You The Grinch Or Santa Claus?

The best thing about a newborn baby, apart from the cuddly feel and the delicious baby smell, is that it is born without any preconceived notions. It neither judges nor admonishes, it just accepts.

They also don’t think much about the glass, or in this case the bottle to be half full or half empty. They just gulp it down. Pessimism and optimism isn’t a birth-acquired trait, it’s more like the building up of perception based on circumstances and general lifestyle.

So, if you consider your marriage to be on the brink of ending, every time you have a major disagreement, this thought could emerge from your past relationship patterns. However some people are born with certain traits that drive them towards choosing the negative over the positive and vice-verse. Some of us are mentally strong and take-charge kind of people, while others prefer their comfort zones.

Obviously, someone who looks for rationality in the face of a problem, are more likely to be optimistic, but just because they weren’t initiator-materiel in the past that does not mean they can't be one in the future. You might have had reasons to stop hoping, stop looking at the silver lining (which, even being an optimist I am yet to see) but where is it taking you?

Pessimism is not exclusive; it is the breeding ground for envy and malice. Like the Grinch who couldn’t stomach other people’s happiness and made every possible effort to sabotage their festive spirit, pessimism does that to you in real life. It starts with alienating your friends and family, not everyone is Max who’d stick by you even if you are being a complete pain in the wrong side to them.

People tend to portray optimism as the happy drug, which it definitely is not. When you see your friend fit snug in a dress that squeezed your flab so tight you could barely breathe, and the first thought that comes to your mind is ‘Damn it I need to lose weight’ rather than ‘God is unfair, why did he make me fat!’: that is optimism.

People who are optimist do not sit smiling the joker-smile at the glass half full, they try hard both physically and mentally to keep that glass half full. As Tony Robbins puts it ‘If there’s no action, you haven’t truly decided’. Optimism isn’t just a perception; it is more like your perception that reflects in your actions.

The pessimistic mind might think there’s no use changing, but remember even the Grinch had a change of heart in the end. A Grinch too can turn into a Santa Claus.

Wishing You all the Best,

FreelanceCoach Team