This is the second part of my ongoing Commentary series. In this part, I tackle the subjects of optimism and pessimism. If you want to read my previous part, here's the link.

---

Optimism describes a mental attitude of a person which is basically the expectancy of the best possible outcome of a situation.

It has deep roots in human emotions and fundamental nature. An optimist always expects good things to happen. He expects that everyone should have something positive to look forward to, even in the face of great adversity and tragedy. He believes that it is important to focus on the bright side of the life. To be short, he believes that eventually, everything is going to get better, and if it is already, then it's going to stay the same.

There's no doubt that optimism is closely linked with hope. In fact, one could argue that hope is the very foundation of optimism. Even when he encounters bleak and desperate situations, when one hopes to best all odds, he develops the necessary motivation he needs. Basically, an optimist never gives up as he understands the importance of continuous efforts and hard-work. He continues to try until he finally meets success.

Pessimism is the complete opposite of optimism.

A pessimist, on the contrary to an optimist, anticipates the occurrence of bad and unfortunate events. He believes that whatever he has or will accomplish will ultimately amount to nothing more than a heap of dust and dirt. Nothing can give him the motivation he needs to accomplish the task at hand because he expects the worst outcome of the task itself. Murphy's Law can also be stated as an example of a pessimist. The law states:

Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong.

A pessimist believes that the hardships of life outweigh the luxuries of it. We can never discover the true purpose of our existence and we can never find real happiness. Even at the peak of his power and success, a pessimist knows deep down that there is indeed the inevitability of his downfall. He keeps an image of his presumed upcoming downfall at the forefront of the mind and thinks about it with his each breath. According to a pessimist, we can never fully sate our desires for eternal happiness and joy because such things do not exist. We are nearing the realm of nihilism which is another topic.

You have certainly heard of this but I'm going to share it anyway because I find it fascinating.

Is the glass half-empty or half-full?

If it's half-full, you're an optimist. Yay!

If it's half-empty, you're a pessimist. Yay...?

I find it fascinating because it not only tells us our mental attitude, but it also seems to tell us something more.

For example, let's take the half-full people. The half-full people are conscious and thankful for what they have achieved. They understand that they've put enormous amounts of efforts into getting where they are right now. The only thing they need right now is to continue those efforts and they are going to secure an appointment with success pretty soon. Half way done, half way to go.

The half-empty people are obviously the complete opposite. They think that they will never be able to complete their journey on the road to success because they will always be met with such challenges and obstacles that will be impossible to overcome. Failure has been writing for them and the ink is dry. Even if they succeed, the ever-present danger of failure will haunt them. The world is a dark place and universe doesn't reward anyone justly, deservedly, or equally.

The thing about this is that your mental attitude great affects your behavior and general attitude. If you are an optimist, you might have an upbeat, talkative, friendly, hopeful, funny, and happy-go-lucky type of personality. While on the other hand, if you are a pessimist, you might have an anti-social, sad, and 'depressive' personality. Mental attitude has an immense effect on our everyday activities. It even has great effects on our health!

Ultimately, it is up to you to decide what kind of person are you. While optimism is indeed great as it gives you hope and something to look forward to, in life there are tragic and adverse moments where you cannot even fathom the shreds of hope and optimism others harbor. The situation gets so bleak that you cannot even imagine being optimistic. While it's good to be optimistic, sometimes the universe finds a way to make you pessimistic.

---

I had fun writing this piece as pessimism and optimism have always been interesting subjects for me. As always thanks for the read, hope you enjoyed it.