Constructing Optimism

When William created a list of 5 things that he knew were true, it was hard to be able to find one that would not be true. Most of the things that he listed were facts. I did see one that I thought that I could bend, and that was, “I love my job.” At first when I saw it I did not know how I could possibly say that an emotion that he felt was at all untrue. I decided that I would look at it from a different perspective. Now, William is a jolly guy who has a positive outlook on life and the world around him. I decided that I would have to play the devils advocate. So, taking on the role of the “half-empty” pessimist, I asked William how it felt when somebody did not tip him (by the way he is a pizza delivery guy). He said that that stunk. I asked him if he really enjoyed making a long delivery if the people did not tip him well, or at all. Surprisingly William said that those might have stunk, but that it didn’t chance his overall view. William happens to be constructed with a positive outlook on life. Somebody else, depending on how they’re constructed may have seen things negatively. It reminds me of a story about two twin boys. They were so completely opposite. One always saw the good, the other the bad. Their mother, who had concern for the opposites, took them to a childhood psychologist. What the doctor decided to do was to put the negative little boy in a room full of toys and the positive boy in a room full of manure. In half an hour he checked on them. The negative boy was sitting in the corner. The doctor asked him, “Why didn’t you ride the rocking horse?” The little boy said, “I was afraid I’d fall of and break my arm.” The doctor said, “Why didn’t you eat all the delicious candy?” The little boy replied, “I didn’t want to get a stomach ache.” They left the room and went to see the little optimist. He had manure everywhere. It was on the walls, ceiling and all over him. The doctor said, “Young man what are you doing?” He replied, “With all this manure, there’s gotta’ be a pony in here somewhere!”