I guess I see a difference between optimists and realists.
I suppose it breaks down like this:
Optimists see a half a glass of water and see it half full, and generally see it as filling full very soon for a variety of inane reasons.
Pesmistists see a half a glass of water and see it half empty, and prob soon to be totally empty for the exact opposit of the varity of inane reasons the optimists cite.
Realists see half a glass of water and see it as a half a glass of water. What happens to it in the future is totally dependant upon what they decide to do about it.
In a personal explaination:
I once wanted to be a pro tennis player. The girls, the money, the girls, the trophies, the media attention, the girls….. my motivation was obvious. I was pretty good for my age too. I was 12 when I got put on the court with a guy who was going pro (though I admit I barly got a ball back and mostly got hammered at). My coach wanted to inspire me.
Problem was over the years, as I walked off the courts, I looked around and realized how many of the trainers, assistant coaches, late 20 something wannnabee’s who were way to old but wouldnt admit it, parents living vicariously through their kid, etc etc were actually just failed wouldbe pro players who never went anywhere. They never had anything else to fall back on, so they became coachs, assistants, overzelous parents….
An optimist woulda looked around and said “I am different, I am gonna be the next Aggasi! No, Aggasi was really the first ME!”
An pesimist would have realized that the odds of me making it pro were near zilch, and never walked onto the court again.
A realist like me will still play on weekends, holidays, and whenever he feels like it, but will also study his ass off to get a good job in Industry he also likes so he doesnt end up serving vollies to 6 year olds in the sun all day.
Sadly in our current system we subsidize the optimists when they fail, ignor the pemisists except when we cant any longer, and tax the realists to pay for it all.
