OPTIMISM OR PLAIN POLLYANNISH?

It is true that an optimistic attitude can create immense satisfaction for the mind. However when a person dwells overly too much on that feeling of satisfaction instead of rousing from such slumber and working on the said dream, it becomes totally detrimental to true achievement of success. Instead gears towards what is referred to as irrepressibly, excessively, naively and unreasonably optimistic.

It is easy to dream about a beautiful future. In that dream, you build alluring images of how you want your life to pan out. The houses, the cars, the trips to exotic places, the parties, the shopping sprees etc. Such dreams are good in taking your minds away from the pressing matters of underachievement that you may feel or at least just lift your minds. 

But some people do not know how to differentiate between fantasy life and the real world. In your fantasy, you may be walking down a street and you stumble onto 10 million dollars. Or suddenly, a beautiful car pulls over, the key is handed to you – you’ve won some lottery you didn’t even enter for! 

Alas, such might have happened for someone but it does not mean it will for you in that same way. In fact there might only be a 0.00000001 percent chance that it could happen at all.

So unfortunately, many people get roped into this Panglossian lifestyle. Living constantly in denial of reality and being blind to the fact that there are many obstacles to achieving such fantasy. And because of this, they do not know nor understand that they need to be willing to work past those obstacles if they ever want to achieve what they fantasize about. Therefore wasting so much time in wishful thinking when they could have been working.

The other day I had a brief conversation with someone who said something that struck a chord in my mind. It was  

“Nobody ever wrote down a plan to be broke, fat, lazy, or stupid. 

Those things are what happen when you don’t have a plan”. 

 Those words stayed with me for days. And more so, made me all the more guilty because I know quite a number of people who to the best of my knowledge have no plan and in a funny twist, they are the hugest dreamers I have ever met. 

The way they would go on building castles in the air, to the untrained mind you would think they actually translate such dreams to at least thoughts and maybe hopefully into plans. That was what propelled me into writing this piece, with the hope that someone out there gets inspiration and makes better plans. 

There’s nothing wrong with being optimistic – just remember that nobody gets anything handed to them, so next time you sink into that Wishing-well, focus instead on achievable goals that will direct you into gaining that success which you crave.

**** If this piece tends towards pessimistic that wasn’t my intention. I only do hope that it will gear any such sleeper who feels entitled to wake up and smell the coffee.