Yet another year has come to an end and here we are, ready to step on the other side, into the unknown. Don’t worry, I won’t mention New Year resolutions; I don’t have any, I never had. Instead, I’ll present you a recipe that teaches you how to prepare a delicious New year! Sounds good, doesn’t it? I know, I know!

It is a classical recipe, kind of difficult to find, created by Katharina Elisabeth Goethe (1731-1808), mother of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. The ingredients are pretty common, you won’t encounter any trouble finding them.

Here is the recipe, bon apetit!

As I promised in the two articles on the myths of pessimism (I and II), I’ll now tell you which one is better to be; an optimist or a pessimist.

And even though the above phrase might send out the impression that one of them is better than the other, the ‘sweet spot’ is a mix of the two; in equal proportions.

Kathy Lette, Australian best-seller novelist, believes that the most successful people are neither extremely optimistic nor extremely pessimistic, but a healthy combination of the two. And I completely agree with her!

In the first post on the myths of pessimism, I have busted three major myths about it. To summarize:

1. The #1 myth: negative thinking is not more realistic than positive thinking
2. The #2 myth: pessimism is less agreeable than optimism
3. The #3 myth: pessimism creates worry, trouble and health issues, so we’re better off without it

Time has now come for two more myths.

This time we’ll bathe in one truly important insight of Galileo Galilei, the father of modern science.

Galileo Galilei (15 February 1564 - 8 January 1642) was a Tuscan (Italian) physicist, mathematician, astronomer and philosopher who played a major role in the scientific revolution.

The quoted idea is of great importance, as it sheds a much needed ray of light on the works of many writers, bloggers and educators. We’d all like to be considered as ‘influential’ and eye-opening individuals for the society, but truth be told, we’re very limited in that regard.

“Pessimism is only the name that men of weak nerves give to wisdom” – Bernard De Voto

Allow me to start this article by affirming that I’m not a pessimistic person. And I’m not an optimist either. I’m between them, I am both. In the words of Albert Schweizer, “To the question whether I am a pessimist or an optimist, I answer that my knowledge is pessimistic, but my willing and hoping are optimistic.”

Now, if we are to have a correct conversation here, we’ll need to establish a clear frame by defining the terms in discussion.

pessimism

1: an inclination to emphasize adverse aspects, conditions, and possibilities or to expect the worst possible outcome

2 a: the doctrine that reality is essentially evil b: the doctrine that evil overbalances happiness in life

optimism

1 : a doctrine that this world is the best possible world

2 : an inclination to put the most favorable construction upon actions and events or to anticipate the best possible outcome

In the age-old battle between the two, pessimists think optimists are foolish and optimists think pessimists make themselves unnecessarily miserable. And while most people have taken a position at one of the ends by being either essential optimists or essential pessimists, the common sense concept of equilibrium seems to have been forgotten.

equilibrium

a state of intellectual or emotional balance

But we digress. Let’s see what myths we have about pessimistic people.

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