I just had this discussion with a friend. He thinks I am a pessimist and that I am an 'angry' person. I dont think of it that way, I think I'm a realist. To me, the world isn't full of rainbows and butterflies. Unfortunately there is more bad than good, there are more people that would just as soon step over versus lend you a hand. The intentions of a lot of people are greedy and selfish. I guess this does make me sound like an 'angry pessimist' but its true. Any story that you hear about in the news you hear th same, someone close to you, a close friend, or a stranger its usually the same story. Now i know some of you are going to go off on some sort of tangit and take this the wrong way so let me clarify. I dont believe that everyone is out to get you and that there arent ANY good people...i just think the bad outweigh the good unfortunately. He also stated that he would help someone in need whether they screwed him over or not...I'm generally a pretty giving person and i put my all into any relationship that i have (friendship, relationship, whatever) but if you have proved to me that you arent worthy of my help then why should i waste my time when like said...that person would just as soon step over and possibly kick me while i'm down versus lend a hand to help me up...Idk...Sad but true

While I am quite aware that there are bad things going on in the world, I prefer to be more optimistic. And I don't have the patience to deal with someone who is pessimistic/negative all of the time.

I agree..Negative people are annoying and can bring you down. As far as my stance i dont think of myself as being pessimistic..i think a more cautious realist would suit better. I dont trust easily nor give people the chance to hurt me...i try to detect their motives before letting things unravel.

Azzholes are pretty easy to spot. Just steer clear of them. I consider myself a grouchy optimistic.......

Must add this category..

I try to ignore the yuck and only see the good things.

I agree with singme.

I think I'm an optimist, but I prepare for the worst (in case it does happen).

Then I pray for the best! So maybe I'm a realist??

I am optimisticly pessimistic about realism!!!!

I'm an optimistic pessimist – I never think that the sky’s gonna fall but I won’t be surprised if it does

Going on about how the bad outweighs the good in your OP makes you sound pessimistic.

Not really..

A pessimist to me is someone that shares their negativity all the time, that thinks there is NO sunshine after the rain. I voice how i feel if asked..and prompt discussion. As i also said in my post..i dont think that everything is bad.

I always look for the best even though it doesn't always happen. I trust until someone breaks it and prefer to think positive regardless. I think great things will come to me better that way.

Agree with a couple in here. A healthy dose of each isn't a bad mix

Well, pessimism does include thinking the bad outweighs the good. That's why I pointed that out.

I disagree..I think of it as being a realist. Realistically in MY life time (i wont speak for others) I've dealt with more bad people than good. I've seen and heard of more disappointing situations than otherwise. Again, i dont think of everything having a gray cloud. Obviously our definition of what an optimist, pessimist, or realist are are different.

Ok.

I'm an optimistic realist. lol.....And I disagree that there is more bad than good. I don't see it that way.

You guys need to be on antidepressants. Cheer up! There is so much to enjoy it's actually hard for me to get focused on the neg side. When I see people gossip or go on a downer it blows my mind to the point of popping. I feel like getting in their skin and shaking the demons off. When you see me react on here from time to time this is what I go through. It's like Yikes, a negative person. Get away from me. Why waste air on this crap? I feel like I have to do everything I can to get away from these creepy crawlys.

Maybe I'm still a kid or something but I break out in these fits of joy that are just shy of uncontrollable. My friends say "don't give him drugs please he's bad enough". I just don't see the negative that people talk about and justify it as being a realist. Koo koo! If your always badgering the opinions of others believe me you are a pessimist. Your not a realist either, your a grouch. If you can't see the amazing beauty and creative joy that life brings your missing out on the true meaning of optimistic. Hello, colors, music, smell, taste, feelings. An optimist wakes up ready to spill out flowers on others and looks for ways to bring the world up to a positive spin. We don't turn on the news looking for bad but crack ourselves up looking in the mirror. We run to our stereos to turn on the jams, fly up the windows to breath the fresh air and make tickles on our loved ones. Sometimes at our own peril and destruction.

We all have all 3, and we all lean toward which ever one is pulling on us at the moment, but a good way to tell which one is really you is to step back and look at how goofy, bright and wonderful things are. That's an optimist. A realist realizes they are 3 but knows how to swing to the positive when they are in the deep too long. And a pessimist sometimes (many times) will claim to be an optimist but always look at the judgemental or slightly darker side when thoughts come into their minds.

We left out one however. The doomsday pessimist. They never see the negative in them but the others around them can see it bleeding from their pores. In their mind they are right and blind to the cynic in them that is in constant tear down mode. They challenge every word of every one and it takes them forever to see that they are doing damage and not helping the issues of the explorations of a better place. Whereas an optimist sees the everything as growing and improving (even seeing the positive in a bad thing) the doomsday pessimist sees the world as decaying and dying. They will never lift a finger to fix, but will always be there to condemn.

Honestly we are poor judges of which one we are and most times brag on our abilities to see only the good or justify our realistic approaches. However we spill what we are onto others daily and it is no secret to the ones closet to us which one or combo we are.

Wow, not bad mister Green. Yeah, who are you kidding? Sorry had to poke at myself.

right on sis!

Only a pessimist sees more bad than good.