Question

In Optimism At All Costs, the author states “historically, paradoxes are often not overcome or resolved per se. Rather, they are dissolved, rendered logically possible, and reconciled by newly emergent possibilities. In Cities and Citizenship, one of the ironies or paradoxes of citizenship is that it is exclusive yet produces inclusivity. Explain how this paradox is possible.

Answer 1

Some people, more than others, have a consistent tendency to think, feel and behave, regarding most aspects of their lives, in a way that is unbalanced and inclined toward one of the extremes on the optimism-pessimism continuum; we call them optimists and pessimists. An optimistic person sees good things everywhere, is generally confident and hopeful of what the future holds. From the optimist's point-of-view the world is full of potential opportunities. The pessimist, on the other hand, observes mainly the negative aspects of everything around. Thinking of all the potential dangers and pitfalls on the way, the pessimist is likely to have little hope for the future. Consequently, the pessimist tends to remain passive when encountered with a challenge, believing that his efforts are futile anyway.

How to be optimistic If you wish to be optimistic, you need to ensure that you adopt the following 3 attitudes, as highlighted by Seligman in Learned Optimism: How to Change Your Mind and Your Life! 1. Believe that it shall pass Pessimists react badly when things go wrong. They are overcome by a feeling of permanence; a belief that what has gone wrong shall remain that way. To be optimistic, you need to understand that having a bad day does not mean that your entire life is going to be bad. It just means that you have a bad day. Whatever has gone wrong today, you must believe that you can get up tomorrow and take action to get yourself back on track. Of course, you must acknowledge that things have not gone to plan but where pessimists would give up; optimists just identify, and implement, the necessary action to adjust the plan and get back on course to achieve their objectives. 2. Remember that it is only one part of your life When something goes wrong in one area of their life, pessimists tend to feel the impact across all areas of their life. To be optimistic requires that you be able to compartmentalise your life in so far as is possible.

For example, if you lose your job, you understand that it does not make you a bad parent. While the job loss may have some impact on your role as a parent e.g. budgets; you can feel bad about losing your job while still remaining 100% confident in your ability as a parent. For pessimists, the loss of their job would impact on their entire sense of self-worth. 3. Don't blame yourself To blame yourself is to accuse yourself of screwing up or of not giving your all. The blame game is pointless. Pessimists tend to blame themselves, and beat themselves up over the smallest of mistakes. While it is actually more optimistic to externalise blame i.e. blame others, I do not believe that is the healthiest approach to take. A true optimist will avoid blame as much as possible. They will accept that they can only do their best in any given situation and they will understand the importance of learning from their mistakes. Rather than focus on blame, when you choose to be optimistic, you choose to focus on what can be changed. To get lost in the blame game is to get caught up in the past. An optimist is focused on moving forwards. They simply identify the things that they can change in order to improve their results. Then they take action and move on. Optimism is a critical component of strong self confidence. If you struggle with your self confidence, check out Unbreakable Self Confidence.