Pessimism is the vice of our lives. Failure and bad outcomes are a part of the road to success, but the fear of failure is so rooted in our society that we avoid attempting to challenge ourselves. Optimism is the alternative everyone knows they need.
According to the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI), pessimism often stems from a feeling of a loss of control. This makes pessimists more inclined to give up on goals in an attempt to regain control of their lives. Optimists on the other hand often govern their lives and guide their “destinies”.
My freshman year was pathetic. I was 14 years old and in a constant cycle of worry for my future prospects; it was a pattern of hopelessness that was built upon my fear of losing control over my life, and it was frustrating.
It sucks to live like that, truly. To constantly be on the edge of my seat because I was worried about something going wrong was irritating. Without knowing it, I limited my opportunities out of fear.
Pessimism ruined my freshman year.
Then I went to summer camp for the first time, and the counselors and annual campers made me cringe. I saw their personalities as happy-go-lucky, and I wondered “What could make these people so happy to be here?” And sure, I changed my mind but there was more to it.
As I started to connect with these people, I saw that they were genuinely delighted to try things that failed or just straight-up embarrass themselves. They laughed when they wanted to laugh and weren’t afraid to cry when they wanted to cry.
They were self-aware too. One of them saw the confused look on my face and admitted that it was kind of weird, borderline cultish, but they had fun. I saw that the key difference between me and them was that I was scared to believe in a positive outcome.
When I came home, I found myself falling back into my pessimistic habits. I realized that in that mindset I was unknowingly keeping myself in melancholy low spirits. I began to incorporate that happy-go-luckiness into my life.
The NCBI also mentions that optimism is; more often than not, a conscious, mindful effort made by an individual and is correlated with a higher self-esteem. I saw those things seeping into my life more than I ever thought possible before.
This way of thinking changed my life. I made more friends, stopped letting grades be my absolute number one priority and I was happier. It may seem obvious but believing that a positive outcome is possible when trying something new is relieving and reassuring.
Failure is no longer a fear but a cog in the machine for success. I focus on what actions I can take to guide my life in the right direction and create personal growth and change. I see a new me that is happy to fail and look in a positive direction.
