Optimism - a philosophy for fools?

I'll start with the advantages of being a sad person.

Nobody pities a happy person, and everyone wants to be entertained by them. On the other hand, a sad person has an infinite number of individuals who sympathise with them and keep their distance, which guarantees them peace.

Besides, what could be better than wallowing in one's own swamp of sadness? One can spend the whole day contemplating what would have been if things were different, creating apocalyptic scenarios in their mind, suspecting everyone of deceit and manipulation. And to top it off, watching hundreds of gloomy news from home and abroad at any time of day or night, topped up with maximum doses of complaining.Ah, what a great life it is!

Cheerful people have always been accused of madness,

perceived as harmless idiots at best. Whereas sadness and seriousness have been valued since ancient times. Tragedy was the highest art form, especially when tragic endings concerned all heroes, including the author. Comedy was considered childish, whimsical, and foolish. Nowadays, there is a trend to be happy, and a sense of humour is highly appreciated to the extent that everyone pretends to understand every joke just to avoid being accused of lacking humour.

What are the stereotypes about optimists?

Optimism is often perceived as naivety, childishness, and the optimist is often seen as, to put it bluntly, an idiot. There are many sayings about optimists. For instance, it is claimed that an optimist is an uninformed pessimist. Allegedly, an optimist wakes up in the morning thinking that the world is wide open before them, while a pessimist knows what kind of hole that is. Moreover, optimists regard this world as the best of all possible worlds, and pessimists know that it is, unfortunately, the truth.

What is the truth about optimists?

When we look at the world with hope and believe that everything will work out, we don't waste time considering all the negative scenarios such as: “ Will a combine harvester run me over today?" or “Will my dog abandon me?”. Furthermore, we save energy, so we are eco-friendly when we think positively. Negative thinking drains us.

Optimism allows us to view both daily and unusual problems in a unique way. When I first read that a problem could be seen as a challenge or an adventure, I thought it was a joke. But one can really adopt such a way of thinking.