Do you see your life as Half Empty, or Half Full?

[ChristianKitsune]

I was just curious if you guys considered yourselves an opptimist or a Pessimist when life kinda goes down hill. XD

Like say you are walking down the street and you have a 20 dollar bill in your pocket and the next thing you know its gone.

Do you get really upset about it?

Or do you shrug it off and think that whoever finds it needs it more than you do? and that maybe by dropping that 20 you unintentionally did something good.

For me, I think I'm an EXTREME opptimist... I don't like to think about negative things for very long XD. The scenario I just mentioned actually happened to me once in Wal Mart. I was going to buy something really nifty with that 20 dollars, but I realized that it was no longer in my pocket... O_o

Yeah I was a bit bummed, but I was like "Oh well, who ever finds it must need it more than me!" XD

I'm wierd I suppose.

I guess you could say I'm opptimistic almost to the point of foolishness >_<

What about you guys?

[ShiroiHikari]

I tend to lean more toward the side of pessimism. However, I'm not a total defeatist like I used to be.

[Cognitive Gear]

The glass is twice the size it needs to be for the given specifications.

But really, if I lost a 20 dollar bill, I'd be disappointed. I'd probably look around for it for a couple minutes, then give up and move on with life. Some things aren't worth worrying about.

[Sheenar]

I can be either one, depending on the situation.
For example, when Christmas break was approaching and I didn't yet have a place to stay, I envisioned Pebbles and myself sleeping outside --I would actually walk around campus and see places and think to myself "That would be a good place to sleep." But of course I found somewhere to stay and that kind of thinking is just stupid and part of not trusting God.
But other times I'm just convinced that everything will work out in the end and I don't worry about that situation a whole lot.
So I'm both...but mostly half-empty. 'Cause I worry. A lot.

[Sparx00]

I look at the glass half full. It's easy for me to look at the brighter side of things because I live on the brighter side.

[chibiphonebooth]

i'm usually an optimist.

but lately i've been a major pessimist in everything.

[LadyRushia]

I tend not to worry about things to much and I don't feel like my life has any serious gaps (go, Jesus!), so I guess it's half full for me.

[Radical Dreamer]

Absolutely half-full. Something has to be seriously awful before it'll get me too down. XD There are things that will bother me and get on my nerves, and I may rant about them, but I usually get over it within a few hours or less. XD If I lost a $20 bill, I will say that I wouldn't just shrug it off, though. XD I mean. That's like half a tank of gas right there. D8

But yeah. I tend to keep a very optimistic view of life. XD

[ChristianKitsune]

XD well I didn't just shrug off losing the 20 dollars XD I tried to find it for several minutes before just shrugging it off

hehe, glad to see I'm not alone XD Although I guess pessimistic views are a bit realistic aren't they?

[Kairi]

Half full, for sure. I think that everyone in my family would agree that I'm usually the cheerful mediator in any situation. (Although... I'll admit that I probably wouldn't get over losing a $20 bill very quickly. XD Not only is my income limited due to the fact that I don't have time for a job right now, but things are so expensive these days! I'm one of those people who actually does need the money, heh.)

But anyway, it's probably a good thing that I'm easy-going and optimistic, because that helps to keep things balanced out in my household. My mom is a single parent and gets stressed out easily, while the oldest of my brothers can be a bit hardheaded at times. It's a rare day when the two of them don't get into some sort of a spat, so... yeah. I just do my best to stay calm and help keep the peace. XD;

[Shao Feng-Li]

Undecided.

[Shilohan ninja]

I'd like to think of myself as an optimist for the most part, though I can think of a few things that tend to get my goat from time to time.
(school work, little brother, bugs, etc.)

[KhakiBlueSocks]

If I lost a $20 bill, I will say that I wouldn't just shrug it off, though. XD I mean. That's like half a tank of gas right there. D8

Corrie...what the heck are YOU driving when $20 is a half a tank of gasoline??? Once more, where the heck do YOU buy your gas?!

Back on topic, I'm very optimistic. I'm a half-full kinda guy. I'm a beliver that, even when things look bad, you HAVE to thank GOD that they aren't as bad as they could be.

And, Kitchan, think of loosing the $20 as being a blessing to someone else. God has a way of working through people.

[Debitt]

Half empty. I'm a bit of a pessimist. *shrugs*

In regards to the $20 -- do you know how many packets of ramen that could buy? This college student won't let that $20 get away so easily.

[Esoteric]

Do not tempt the Eeyore Zen master with this question.

[bakura_fan]

pessimist...who's married to an optimist...eh. we even out in the end. @_@ he helps me with my panic attacks and I help him come back to reality.

[Amzi Live]

Hmm...For the last few weeks I have kinda been avoiding reading the Bible,and having my alone time with God.Because of this ,and because I have began to look at tings more in this worlds darkness than in the light of Jesus I have become way more of a pessimist.That is obviously wrong,so I know that I have to straighten up my priorities.Still,I was usually very optimistic,and always trusted in God to have evrything under control,but still to do my part in the tough times.

[Tsukuyomi]

Hmmm, I guess it really depends on the situation As for the $20, I'd be bummed to, but whatever happens happens sometimes right I guess it would depend what I was going to spend it on to o.o Like if it was for someone else.. I'd be a bit more mad, because what if someone sent me out with that money to get something for them, and I lost it D:< I'd feel uber bad then O__O

And, I would die a little inside, because someone that may find it that may not really need it, but kept it for themselves and didn't bother to give it back if they saw me drop it O__O

Ok, I'm done spazzin out now thank you ^__^

LIKE I SAID, IT DEPENDS D:<

[GhostontheNet]

My own outlook is best described by the "tragic optimist" view outlined in Viktor E. Frankl's existentialist psychological work Man's Search For Meaning. From my viewpoint, the traditional optimistic perspective and the pessimistic viewpoint are both remarkably stupid. Nothing could be more niave than classic optimism that says everything will work out for the best in a world where 30,000 people die every day of starvation and malnutrition at a grotesquely quick rate. Our world is not a playground or fairyland where everyone gets their marbles back at the end, but a grim and grotesque travesty where predators and parasites feed on the disempowered and drain them of the most holy and sacred things. To me, the optimistic viewpoint is little but thinly disguised apathy that preserves itself by living in a protective emotional cocoon away from all the problems that Paul says makes God's Holy Spirit and the very earth groan in ways so profound they are unspeakable. Optimism is a far cry from the spirit of our Lord, who was a man of sorrows that bore upon himself the weight of all human tragedy.

Conversely, pessimism is basically living just like Jesus never came. Pessimistic philosophy essentially rules out the possibility that God will come and set the world to rights. Arthur Schopenhauer was quite right when he said that any theistic system of thought would ultimately hold to some form of optimism. And, to take matters beyond their theological dimmension, the pessimist has a nasty habit to dissolve into fatalism with little feeling of empowerment to change the world for the better. As such, pessimism merely absorbs all negative data about the world to support its position with little impetus or hope to change the world for the better. And then, a life without hope is really living just a shell of life.

To me, hope is a lot like Edgar Allen Poe describes it in The Premature Burial, a person buried alive banging and screaming against the lid of a coffin to be rescued. The optimist may just assume someone has noticed their absence, assume that help is one the way, and "sleep" secure in their coffin. The pessimist may just assume that nobody will pass by the location of their burial and just snivel to death. Instead, Poe seems to be emphasizing that true hope is a much different sort of thing. And, if we would have missed this point, he takes pains to recount earthshattering cataclysms like the Black Death and The Great Lisbon Earthquake that changed man's outlook on the world in every way possible as just a part of "the long and weird catalogue of human miseries". These Poe emphasizes, make the optimism of the "mere romanticist" (Poe ascribed to the dark romanticist school) look silly. On the other hand, Poe rejects the theological pessimism of the proto-atheistical deist movement by emphasizing God's mercy in a mini-theodicy that man-as-individual has never suffered the calamity of man-as-collective, and so his suffering is not as abject as it appears on the surface. If we were so blockheaded to have read through the whole story while missing the point, a change in the personal outlook of the pessimistic protagonist to a brighter view leads him to be cured of his narcolepsy. The era in which we presently live rests precariously upon an entire century of cataclysm and social upheaval to rival anything wrought by the Black Plague or the Lisbon Earthquake. This is why the social imagery of the last century is so frequently characterized by either vain promises of perfect happiness and security or grim characterizations of the alleged abject pain and despair of our situation.

I believe in our present time we stand at the apex of either a New Renaissance catalyzed by the information age or a new dark age begat by the unsustainability of capitalism in an era of neocolonialism and post-industrial economics. I think a major part of this economic collapse will be the current trend in which contemporary capitalism, in order to sustain itself for the time being, finds itself forced to erode and destroy its saving grace, the Christian ethic Max Webber calls the "Protestant work ethos". This is why the mass media, under the economic control of wealthy multinational corporations, labors so tirelessly to erode remaining vestiges of Christian beliefs and values in the populace at large. I believe one major step towards this New Renaissance I mentioned earlier will be the rise of the tragic optimist worldview to prominence or even popularity. This will allow us to see through both the pretentious optimistic imagery of happiness and security by which these blasphemous corporations control our culture and the stagnant imagery of pessimistic despair. It will allow us newfound ideological and artistic ground to work towards ideals of human dignity and value to rival even the legacy of Renaissance Humanism. It will plant the seeds for a new awakening of spirituality amidst the bare desert of the soul wrought by the secularism of the semi-Enlightenment and an era of modernism that already lies in its death throes that will let men know at last that "God is not dead, nor doth he sleep", but rather awaits the moment in which he will set all creation free from its bondage in captivity. This viewpoint of tragic optimism aligns greatly with the worldview of the entire body of scriptures, while the optimistic and pessimistic view of life has led countless people in the current era to reject God. So, to answer your initial question, the cup is half-empty, but it can feed the thirsty and God will fill the cup to the brim overflowing.

[chibiphonebooth]

...i'm SURROUNDED BY A BRICK WALL OF LETTERS AHHHHHHHH

[GhostontheNet]

...i'm SURROUNDED BY A BRICK WALL OF LETTERS AHHHHHHHH

I'm sorry, do you have something useful to say, or do you just suffer from logophobia? If the latter, its not a very good fear to have as a Christian, because God wrote far more words to guide humanity and St. John emphasized that Christ is and always has been the Logos, the very Word of God. Having spent a long time contemplating the old debate between optimism and pessimism drawing information from the fields of theology, philosophy, history, sociology, economics, and deconstructive criticism, I thought it was important that I chime in with an informed opinion on the matter.

[chibiphonebooth]

i was just kidding around. XP

no, what you said was really interesting actually.

[Radical Dreamer]

Nothing could be more niave than classic optimism that says everything will work out for the best in a world where 30,000 people die every day of starvation and malnutrition at a grotesquely quick rate

I believe that God works in all things for good, and that His Will, which I know I can trust, is never faulted. I don't see what's so naï]So, to answer your initial question, the cup is half-empty, but it can feed the thirsty and God will fill the cup to the brim overflowing.[/QUOTE]

You do realize that this is all you had to say to get your point across, yes? XD;

I'm sorry, do you have something useful to say, or do you just suffer from logophobia? If the latter, its not a very good fear to have as a Christian, because God wrote far more words to guide humanity and St. John emphasized that Christ is and always has been the Logos, the very Word of God. Having spent a long time contemplating the old debate between optimism and pessimism drawing information from the fields of theology, philosophy, history, sociology, economics, and deconstructive criticism, I thought it was important that I chime in with an informed opinion on the matter.

By-the-by, it's this attitude I'm talking about. I could return the same to you and simply say you're being magniloquent, not speaking to inform, but seemingly speaking to make others gaze in awe at how well-studied you are. If you're going to contribute to a conversation, please make it at least accessible to all members.

[ADXC]

Well it really depends. Im usually a pessimist, but I sometimes though Im a little optimistic when our lab team in Chemisty class does something wrong. If that happens usually everyone else is just saddened by it. But I try to stay optimisic for the team because if we all get depressed then we will not get any work done. Sometimes I just suck it up because really does my life need more hardships. I would think the present problem is what I need to attend to, not the feelings that come from the problem.

[Fish and Chips]

I think the waiter should refill my glass when I hailed him the first time.

Seriously, where is that guy?

[ChristianKitsune]

My own outlook is best described by the "tragic optimist" view outlined in Viktor E. Frankl's existentialist psychological work Man's Search For Meaning. From my viewpoint, the traditional optimistic perspective and the pessimistic viewpoint are both remarkably stupid. Nothing could be more niave than classic optimism that says everything will work out for the best in a world where 30,000 people die every day of starvation and malnutrition at a grotesquely quick rate. Our world is not a playground or fairyland where everyone gets their marbles back at the end, but a grim and grotesque travesty where predators and parasites feed on the disempowered and drain them of the most holy and sacred things. To me, the optimistic viewpoint is little but thinly disguised apathy that preserves itself by living in a protective emotional cocoon away from all the problems that Paul says makes God's Holy Spirit and the very earth groan in ways so profound they are unspeakable. Optimism is a far cry from the spirit of our Lord, who was a man of sorrows that bore upon himself the weight of all human tragedy.

Conversely, pessimism is basically living just like Jesus never came. Pessimistic philosophy essentially rules out the possibility that God will come and set the world to rights. Arthur Schopenhauer was quite right when he said that any theistic system of thought would ultimately hold to some form of optimism. And, to take matters beyond their theological dimmension, the pessimist has a nasty habit to dissolve into fatalism with little feeling of empowerment to change the world for the better. As such, pessimism merely absorbs all negative data about the world to support its position with little impetus or hope to change the world for the better. And then, a life without hope is really living just a shell of life.

To me, hope is a lot like Edgar Allen Poe describes it in The Premature Burial, a person buried alive banging and screaming against the lid of a coffin to be rescued. The optimist may just assume someone has noticed their absence, assume that help is one the way, and "sleep" secure in their coffin. The pessimist may just assume that nobody will pass by the location of their burial and just snivel to death. Instead, Poe seems to be emphasizing that true hope is a much different sort of thing. And, if we would have missed this point, he takes pains to recount earthshattering cataclysms like the Black Death and The Great Lisbon Earthquake that changed man's outlook on the world in every way possible as just a part of "the long and weird catalogue of human miseries". These Poe emphasizes, make the optimism of the "mere romanticist" (Poe ascribed to the dark romanticist school) look silly. On the other hand, Poe rejects the theological pessimism of the proto-atheistical deist movement by emphasizing God's mercy in a mini-theodicy that man-as-individual has never suffered the calamity of man-as-collective, and so his suffering is not as abject as it appears on the surface. If we were so blockheaded to have read through the whole story while missing the point, a change in the personal outlook of the pessimistic protagonist to a brighter view leads him to be cured of his narcolepsy. The era in which we presently live rests precariously upon an entire century of cataclysm and social upheaval to rival anything wrought by the Black Plague or the Lisbon Earthquake. This is why the social imagery of the last century is so frequently characterized by either vain promises of perfect happiness and security or grim characterizations of the alleged abject pain and despair of our situation.

I believe in our present time we stand at the apex of either a New Renaissance catalyzed by the information age or a new dark age begat by the unsustainability of capitalism in an era of neocolonialism and post-industrial economics. I think a major part of this economic collapse will be the current trend in which contemporary capitalism, in order to sustain itself for the time being, finds itself forced to erode and destroy its saving grace, the Christian ethic Max Webber calls the "Protestant work ethos". This is why the mass media, under the economic control of wealthy multinational corporations, labors so tirelessly to erode remaining vestiges of Christian beliefs and values in the populace at large. I believe one major step towards this New Renaissance I mentioned earlier will be the rise of the tragic optimist worldview to prominence or even popularity. This will allow us to see through both the pretentious optimistic imagery of happiness and security by which these blasphemous corporations control our culture and the stagnant imagery of pessimistic despair. It will allow us newfound ideological and artistic ground to work towards ideals of human dignity and value to rival even the legacy of Renaissance Humanism. It will plant the seeds for a new awakening of spirituality amidst the bare desert of the soul wrought by the secularism of the semi-Enlightenment and an era of modernism that already lies in its death throes that will let men know at last that "God is not dead, nor doth he sleep", but rather awaits the moment in which he will set all creation free from its bondage in captivity. This viewpoint of tragic optimism aligns greatly with the worldview of the entire body of scriptures, while the optimistic and pessimistic view of life has led countless people in the current era to reject God. So, to answer your initial question, the cup is half-empty, but it can feed the thirsty and God will fill the cup to the brim overflowing.

Umm wow...
yeah... I'm an opptimist, because like, I don't want to wallow in the middle all the time.

God tells us to REJOICE. Not to be all "Oh...welll...yeah... God is gooood."

I know there is a time to be sad, and time to mourn and all that...but yeah... I'm an opptimist and that doesn't make me stupid or naive.

God created us all differently with different personalities and traits. If I choose to be an opptimist and praise God in all things and look for God in all things. Then Gosh Darnit I will.

Like Raddie-Chan said, you only needed the last part of your post to suffice an answer to my question. (which I agree with your last sentence)

But yeah... be a little nicer please...

Why is it that this thread is ending up in Debate? COME ON GUYS this isn't a controversial subject! XD It's just a conversation!

[Roy Mustang]

Hmmm, maybe I'm one of the few that is little crazy on my view about life.

I'm not a Half Full or Half Empty person. I'm a full glass person and here is my reason why and most of you know about this and all. The Lord has bless me with many things and I know that some of you may not think all this stuff is not happy stuff, its not.

I was born with a major heart problem, but I made it long enough to have a small surgery at three days old. I then had major open heart surgery, when I was 15 months old. I would get sick a lot and we never knew why. Then a week before my 13th birthday, I had a blood test done on me and found out that I had AIDS. I got it from bad blood that was giving to me, when I had my major open heart surgery. My T cells were down a full total of three and I ended up with a germ called the MAC germ that made you really sick. It was a 20% to 25% change that I would live from fighting blow AIDS and the MAC germ at the same time. With my faith in God, meds and my own will, I fought the MAC germ and was clean of the germ. But at the same time, because of the high fevers and the very strong meds that I was taken to fight the MAC germ, I end up with hearing lost. It was a set back, but I got pass it and went on to fight AIDS. The meds at the time for AIDS are not great and at times made you more sick then having AIDS. I never ask God why or turn away from what I believe in. A few years later, I was on the cocktail meds and in 1996, my t cells went up and the AIDS virus start to become week in my body. In time, the virus was so low in my body that it didn't show in the blood. This doesn't mean that I'm cured from the AIDS virus, its still in my body. But every seen that day in 1996, that the virus is low in my boy, it has stayed that way ever since then.

I know that people may wonder how you can't be pessimist after all this. Sitting around and fulling that things are bad or be bitter at life, it wouldn't help make you better. After all of this, I wouldn't trade all the stuff that happen to me in the world. It made me a better person and my beliefs became even stronger. If it wasn't for all this to happen, I don't think I would still be a Christian and I know that I wouldn't be here at this board if I have a good outlook on life. I believe that God's plan was to share this story and help that, if you trust God and have a good outlook, that things will work out

I get up ever day and thank the Lord for each day. I'm thankful that I can see, walk, and I have both my arms. I'm thankful for the things that I have been giving in life and a caring Family and friends here at CAA.

[color="Red"][font="Book Antiqua"]Col. Roy Mustang[/font][/color]

[ChristianKitsune]

Hmmm, maybe I'm one of the few that is little crazy on my view about life.

I'm not a Half Full or Half Empty person. I'm a full glass person and here is my reason why and most know about this and all. The Lord has bless me with many things and I know that some of you may not think all this stuff is happy stuff, its not.

I was born with a major heart problem, but I made it long enough to have a small surgery at three days old. I then had major open heart surgery, when I was 15 months old. I would get sick a lot and we never knew why. Then a week before my 13th birthday, I had a blood test done on me and found out that I had AIDS. I got it from bad blood that was giving to me, when I had my major open heart surgery. My T cells were down a full total of three and I ended up with a germ called the MAC germ that made you really sick. It was a 20% to 25% change that I would live from fighting blow AIDS and the MAC germ at the same time. With my faith in God, meds and my own will, I fought the MAC germ and was clean of the germ. But at the same time, because of the high fevers and the very strong meds that I was taken to fight the MAC germ, I end up with hearing lost. It was a set back, but I got pass it and went on to fight AIDS. The meds at the time for AIDS are not great and at times made you more sick then having AIDS. I never ask God why or turn away from what I believe in. A few years later, I was on the cocktail meds and in 1996, my t cells went up and the AIDS virus start to become week in my body. In time, the virus was so low in my body that it didn't show in the blood. This doesn't mean that I'm cured from the AIDS virus, its still in my body. But every seen that day in 1996, that the virus is low in my boy, it has stayed that way ever since then.

I know that people may wonder how you can't be pessimist after all this. Sitting around and fulling that things are bad or be bitter at life, it wouldn't help make you better. After all of this, I wouldn't trade all the stuff that happen to me in the world. It made me a better person and my beliefs became even stronger. If it wasn't for all this to happen, I don't think I would still be a Christian and I know that I wouldn't be here at this board if I have a good outlook on life. I believe that God's plan was to share this story and help that, if you trust God and have a good outlook, that things will work out

I get up ever day and thank the Lord for each day. I'm thankful that I can see, walk, and I have both my arms. I'm thankful for the things that I have been giving in life and a caring Family and friends here at CAA.

[color="Red"][font="Book Antiqua"]Col. Roy Mustang[/font][/color]

This post...

Proves what I was saying before...

Life isn't meant to be lived the way it was described earlier.... if we all lived in self misery and woeful attitudes...nothing would be accomplished.

I love the idea of living a life to the fullest.

Thanks Roy! ^_^ I think I'll choose to rephrase my words more carefully.

After all, didn't Christ say he came to give us LIFE so that we can live it to the FULLEST!

*smacks forehead* Duh me! XD

But that's not to say that living a pessimistic life is horrible (I'm not saying that to anyone!!) Maybe that's your way of living, and I live my way, the way I believe I'm called to live and all that stuff XD..

Oh and the 20 dollar thing! that happened to me when I was like 16 XD
Just to clear things up.

[GhostontheNet]

I believe that God works in all things for good, and that His Will, which I know I can trust, is never faulted. I don't see what's so naïve about that. No, the world is not a perfect place, but that doesn't mean people should sulk about it all the time. Additionally, I'm pretty sure this thread is referring more to little things that have a smaller focus, not about the entire world and its problems in general.

Also, I'd be careful about calling half of the people who posted in this thread "naïve" or "stupid." It makes it look like you're looking down on them, which doesn't come across well to the rest of us.

I said the idea was stupid. My argument from high starvation death rates, when converted to raw logic, may be stated as follows:

1. Conventional optimism predicts that the world as an aggregate system (both nature and society) is optimum for mankind to thrive, prosper, and especially to find happiness.
2. For mankind to thrive, prosper, and find happiness, basic nutrition is a key essential element.
3. However, 30,000 people a day (10,950,000 a year) die from starvation and malnutrition because they were unable to secure basic nutrition, a key element for them to thrive, prosper, and find happiness.
4. Therefore, the world as an aggregate system (both nature and society) is not optimum for mankind to thrive, prosper, and find happiness.
5. Therefore, conventional optimism is philosophically improbable. (It is important to note as an aside that I think the key factors in such high starvation death rates are social rather than natural).

To me, conventional optimism is deeply akin to the ungodly superstition of luck and unluck, whereby trust in God's providence is replaced by trust in some vague principle of favor or unfavor within the universe. It is true that with God all things will ultimately work for good to those who love him, and as such any theist must ultimately embrace some form of optimism. My own tragic optimistic perspective is different from conventional optimism and pessimism because it makes a different predictions about the course of human events. It predicts that personal life and human history alike will be marked by great tragedies and evils that will ultimately be redeemed and show God's power. In theological terms, it is important to note that I am actually both a Molinist and a Postmillenialist, two systems that when combined conceive of God achieving the greatest possible good before Christ's second coming. Unlike the conventional optimist, however, I am skeptical that God rates man's greatest contentment and happiness in the world as among the highest good to be achieved, and so I do not believe he has created this world as the best of all possible worlds where this kind of good would occur.

By-the-by, it's this attitude I'm talking about. I could return the same to you and simply say you're being magniloquent, not speaking to inform, but seemingly speaking to make others gaze in awe at how well-studied you are. If you're going to contribute to a conversation, please make it at least accessible to all members.

I have little interest in appealing to all members of anything. I know that not everyone can understand everything I say, but many are capable of understanding some of what I say. To you, language is a medium of communication in which it is wisest and most to communicate to the largest possible audience. To me, however, language is a method of transmitting ideas and values initiated and mediated by the dominant powers and narrative of a group. As such, whoever controls the language controls both the people that speak it and the terms in which the dominant narrative is told. Now, supposing that you, like me, came to believe that the "powers that be" that control the society you live in are injust and oppressive. You would begin to suspect that both the medium of your language and the narrative it is used to tell are like a deck of cards stacked in favor of the oppressor and its agenda. As such, far from being the most empowering option, to appeal to the language and values of the people at large whom are controlled by that very language is to surrender control to the powers that be. Instead, you might consider your task to be the introduction of new words and new ideas outside of the matrix of common speech and ideas to seek out a few kindred spirits and help reshuffle the deck of the world in favor of a more equitable game.

Umm wow...
yeah... I'm an opptimist, because like, I don't want to wallow in the middle all the time.

God tells us to REJOICE. Not to be all "Oh...welll...yeah... God is gooood."

I know there is a time to be sad, and time to mourn and all that...but yeah... I'm an opptimist and that doesn't make me stupid or naive.

God created us all differently with different personalities and traits. If I choose to be an opptimist and praise God in all things and look for God in all things. Then Gosh Darnit I will.

Like Raddie-Chan said, you only needed the last part of your post to suffice an answer to my question. (which I agree with your last sentence)

But yeah... be a little nicer please...

Why is it that this thread is ending up in Debate? COME ON GUYS this isn't a controversial subject! XD It's just a conversation!

Not a controversial subject? Optimism vs. Pessimism has been hotly debated for millenia. I can see very little difference between saying "I don't like to think about negative things for very long" and 'I'm afraid of thinking about tragic realities, so I shield my mind from them.' But to shield one's mind in this fashion is to prevent oneself from seeing the world that Christ came to save that groans and cries out in need as God sees it, and hence constitutes a form of ungodliness. Indeed, I think it is the way many optimists stick their heads in the sand to shield themselves from inconvienient realities that allows nihilistic despair to market itself as a realistic outlook. Optimism is meaningless if it requires one to use rose colored glasses to look at the world.

I think this paradox between the duty to rejoice and the duty to mourn is best described in Kierkegaard's Knight of Faith, who serves as an idealized portrait of faith in action. Kierkegaard says of the Knight of Faith that "He drains the deep sadness in life in infinite resignation, he knows the blessedness of infinity, he has felt the pain of renouncing everything, the most precious thing in the world, and yet the finite tastes just as good to him as to one who never knew anything higher." (Soren Kierkegaard, Fear And Trembling III 91) Perhaps the greatest (and only) living example of the Knight of Faith is our Lord Jesus Christ, whom in his embodiment of what it means to be truly human lived a life of the most profound joy the world has ever known as the herald of the good news of God's kingdom breaking in, and yet also lived a life of the most profound sadness the world has ever known as a man of sorrows who bore all of the the grief of a tragic and fallen world. And, as always, it is our duty as Christians to be conformed to the image of Christ to discover within him the image of God that imbues us with our humanity. As such, we should strive in the power of God's Spirit to discover both the joy and sorrow of Christ, and thus to discover the greatest extent of our own humanity.

[GeneD]

Our world is not a playground or fairyland where everyone gets their marbles back at the end

I love this line! Can I use it on a t-shirt? (I am seriously asking.)

As for my life as a glass half full/empty; sometimes it feels like it's running over and sometimes like someone has knocked it over. To keep it simple though, i'm more of a pessimist.