What Is Negative Optimism?
Just as we all tend to be led by positive optimism at certain times, believing that we can achieve something, hoping for the best no matter what happens and living the life to the fullest, this being for the best, sometimes, we tend to use this optimism wrongly.
Namely, we should be optimistic toward positive things since optimism is all about progress and perseverance. However, if you believe that somethings bad will not happen even if you are indirectly causing it, then you have a problem with negative optimism. For example, if you smoke two packs of cigarettes a day and you are hoping that you will not get ill from your bad habit, without doing anything to stop it, you are being quite counter-productive. Also, if you are practicing unprotected sex with multiple partners and are hoping that you will not end up with sexually transmitted diseases, you are likely to be gravely mistaken since you are doing everything in favor of the negative thing you are using the optimism against.
Therefore, this kind of optimism is used wrongly and it does not help the person who uses it. Rather, it creates an illusion and gives false hope, being useless. Thus, one needs to be realistic when dealing with life's problems and refuse to believe that a mere belief can keep him/her safe from harm, even though he/she hypocritically indulges into that same harm over and over again.
Everything Will NOT Be OK
There are consequences to every kind of wrongdoing and people should be aware of this fact. Therefore, if you drink you should not even think of driving. However, many people, especially younger ones, do quite the opposite, thinking that nothing bad can happen. Unfortunately, it does happen often and people lose lives every day because of driving under theinfluence.
The same is with smoking. Many students start smoking cigarettes for stress relief, social blending or other similar reasons. Nevertheless, they always believe that they can quit whenever they feel like it. However, they cannot and usually end up getting addicted to smoking cigarettes, being potential victims of many illnesses related to this bad habit, some being terminal.
Be careful. Use optimism wisely, for motivation when you are being creative, productive and are indulging into positive things. Avoid motivating yourself towards ignoring the threats of your wrongdoings since this can be extremely dangerous in the long run.
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