RSS FeedAttitudes - They're not just Black & White
Posted on Thursday, May 24, 2007 at 8:55 AM by Robby Roberts
Too many times we hear that there are 2 points of view, Optimist or Pessimist. I tell you that is not the case. I am neither. For the most part, I am a REALIST. (See this post)
In fact, many people believe there are 7 attitudes and Optimist or
Pessimist are none of them...
-Cynic: Cynics view the world in
terms of what isn't, or of what won't work.
-Idealist:
Idealists view the world in terms of how it could be changed for the
better.
-Pragmatist: Pragmatists see the world in terms of
what works best or most efficiently.
-Realist: Realists view
the world in terms of what is; they focus on a situation's objective
facts.
-Skeptic: Skeptics view the world with doubt.
-Spiritualist:
Spiritualists view the world in terms of its possibilities.
-Stoic:
Stoics view the world with serenity, feeling that outer events aren't of
primary importance.
Now, are you limited to being only one of those? No. I believe we are all 7 of those attitudes and our choice depends on the situation. Now, we all have one or more of these we tend to use the most. Just as I'm typically a Realist. However, Realism and Pragmatism go hand in hand in many cases.
What I run into, and what sets me off is when people see my realistic
view as being NEGATIVE or PESSIMISTIC. They think that, just because you
don't see the glass as half full, you are a pessimist. I look at a half
a glass of fluid and see just that, a half a glass of fluid. That's
being a realist. I also tend to be a Pragmatist in that I see that the
choice of glass was not the most efficiently, and a smaller glass would
have been a better choice to hold that quantity of fluid. I see that the
person dispensing the fluid picked a better choice of container, there
would be no issue on half full or half empty.
When I take that attitude, I get feedback that I'm being negative about the situation. There is nothing NEGATIVE about stating FACTS. Reality is not always posistive, and neither are the facts. But, they are rarely always negative. I just wish more people would understand that before they label people as having only a positive or negative attitude.
Can I be a Cynic at times, I can be a Spiritualist at times. There is more to the world than just the Yen and the Yang, the black and the white.
Some people see the world as this:
When in reality, it's more like this: