Faith versus pessimism
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The worst mindset you can have is the one that sees everything going wrong. It sets you up for a very counterproductive life.
Pessimism is seeing everything that might go wrong. Having faith is seeing everything that might go right.
You can think that both are two extremes of the same stick and you would not be wrong.
However, one gives way to fewer actions and more fear and the one gives way to more actions and more hope.
In the mind of a pessimist, you might think: “What’s the point?” This is doomed to fail. You see a girl in street. You find her beautiful but you think she will probably reject me or she probably has a boyfriend. Pick your excuse.
You see an opportunity for a job you would love to have but you start thinking I will never get it. I am not good enough. Someone is better qualified for that job.
On the other hand, a person who has faith will try it all. He will go talk to the girl. He will go try the interview and figure out what happens.
Does it mean he will get a date with the girl or the job? If we were to be scientific about this. Probabilities say that he will probably not get either one of them.
Now, the pessimist is comforted in his position because he can say: “See, I told you so I was right not to act.”
However, the person who has faith is not to concern about his “failures” because there will be more job offers and there will be more girls.
Furthermore, the person who has faith can look back and think. This girl and job were probably not the best fit for me. Therefore, I am grateful for the chance to go after something better.
At this point, the pessimist has given up long ago. The concept of trying again is foreign to him because in his narrow-minded point of view he will most likely always fail so what’s the point of trying.
Paralysis by analysis will make you quit before starting. It will make you lose before you even draw the cards.
Let’s forget about the pessimist. Let’s talk about the person who lives in faith. How to live in this positive expectation?
One has to live as if it was impossible to fail. If you start thinking that there is a better way. That there is always a better solution. Events will not be seen as wins or losses. Everything will be seen as progress and moving forward.
On the macro-level, you hold your vision in faith and nothing in the micro-level can disturb that vision because you understand that faith in the universe, life, and yourself will lead you to make that vision come true.
You do not dwell on the past. You make the best of the present and you look to the future with positive expectations and know that life has your back.