While philosophers continue to argue about man's free will, one can wonder about whether optimism is a choice or determined by one's chemical make-up. I ask the question, having many years of work with clinically depressed people. There is no way that they can drum up optimism when their world looks and feels so dark.
So when I came across an article addressing just this issue, it caught my attention.
2009: Now for the Hard Part
Posted by Peggy Drexler, Huffington Post at 3:33 AM on January 1, 2009 "Is the glass half empty, half full -- or did somebody take the glass and smash it against the wall? In times like these, optimism is a decision. " This author believes it is a choice. I would challenge that thesis. I don't believe it is a choice but I do believe that people, even pessimists, can come to trust that change and hope is possible. There may have been optimists that helped elect Obama, but I would assume that there were also lots of pessimists who voted for him as well. The message of hope and directives for change, rather than the empty rhetoric we had seen for eight years, won the day.
"Only a fool expects to be happy all the time". Robertson Davies Is it pessimistic to know this?
“If you will call your troubles experiences, and remember that every experience develops some latent force within you, you will grow vigorous and happy, however adverse your circumstances may seem to be.”
” John Heywood Having learned a lesson from experience doesn't seem to make one an optimist, either.
If I were to try to define the medium in which optimism thrives, it would be in a person who has self-confidence and knows the simple truth: "When life hands you a lemon, you can make lemonade."
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