How's Your Outlook?

[hoss2576]

A few were talking about this in chat last night, and I thought it would make an interesting thread topic.

Growing up I would have been generally considered a negative person. Actually I think I had a gift for being negative. I was the type who if you gave a kid a teddy bear, I would warn you that the teddy bear could go up in flames if the kid got it too close to a hair dryer. Yes, give me a shot at being negative, and I found it. Even after I came to Christ, I still was a negative person when it came to my general outlook. It didn't change for many years. I eventually changed, and most people who know me would say I have a really positive outlook on life and am generally an encourager.

My change took a lot of work, and it definitely came out of a darker period. I had suffered for a time with depression and even dealt with some suicide issues. Through that though, I had to make a conscious decision that "Hey, I don't want to be like this." I had to take different steps to change my outlook from negative to positive.

So, do you consider yourself an overall negative or positive person? Have you always been this way or did it change over time like mine did? What do you think it takes for someone to become a more positive person?

 

[Charcoal]

gut response on seeing the thread title:
"Not very good, I just use the the regular web interface from my email provider."

I would call myself a cautious realist. I tend to have a certain amount of cheer, but have thought through the negative possibilities, and feel like because I have considered them I can now go about being happy because I have a notion of what to do when that which hits the fan, does. I used to carry my own cloud of doom and gloom, but being a single dad, I am very mindful that whatever emotions I might appear to be projecting will have an outcome on my children and their behavior.

 

[Lynx]

Funny Charcoal, real funny. There's a reason they call it "Look out! Express."

I'm usually a fairly upbeat guy. But then my name is Isaac, which in hebrew means "laughter" and I seem to have lived up to it.

 

[JustAnotherUser]

I would say I have been pretty negative for most of my life. Some music I would listen to but I never took too much thought into it and anything that seemed gloomy caught to my fascination towards it. I think it started out of such interest and eventually that's what I became, if that makes sense. To this day I can be negative and when trying to be optimistic, I felt like deep down I'd lie to myself. It robbed me from having proper relationships with others and many missed opportunities, I'm sure. It can be hard to change for certain.

 

[PopClick]

MUCH better than it used to be. I had to really focus on re-training my thoughts to align with what Philippians 4:8 says to think about. (Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.)

I try to think about what is good in any given situation, especially situations that seem bad, and focus on the good part of them (however small it may be). Sometimes the only good thing about them is growth, but growth is certainly good. It's taken a while, but that thought process has become a habit. Trials seem more bearable, and people call me chipper now. I feel more cheerful all the time, too.

Also, in my mind, that verse ties in to the one that says that God will keep in perfect peace, whomever's mind is stayed on Him. God is certainly all of those things listed in Philippians 4:8, you know? So it helps to be still and know who He is, and you will automatically be thinking about what is right, pure, noble, excellent, praiseworthy...

 

[zeroturbulence]

MUCH better than it used to be. I had to really focus on re-training my thoughts to align with what Philippians 4:8 says to think about. (Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.)

and don't forget.. whatever is on sale..

 

[BeanieD]

I have also been in that place. A place where you feel llike you are falling, but there are no walls, no light, no one else just a tunnel of darkness, being tossed and turned, no hope of ever finding footing that could get one out. Suicide was my thought many times, But God had different plans for me. It was through God, and a dream that I had over a five year period, that finally brought me hope. My depression is pretty much gone, and life has a lot more meaning. Thank you for this post God bless

 

[cinder]

Well people would probably accuse me of being negative which comes out of a combination of my perfectionist tendencies and the fact that my inner problem solver is always going to gravitate to the challenges and try to figure out how to overcome them. Occasionally I get into that really negative headspace where all I can see are the challenges and everything seems like too much work. The flip side of that is I do believe most things, and people can be improved somehow and that present circumstances are neither unchangeable nor the final word on life. Also if you are down, I don't like it and will turn the same problem solving skills into finding the good and hopeful things in your situation, or at least start asking questions and analyzing it to death to see if it's really as bad as you are saying it is. So I'm kind of like the great counterbalance of the world, come to me full of enthusiasm about something and I'll shoot you down and point out all the challenges you are likely to face; come to me horribly depressed and I'll do everything I can to find a ray of hope and show you that things aren't quite as bad as they seem and that you have to try something new if you want things to change. You have been warned.

 

[JesusLives]

Funny Charcoal, real funny. There's a reason they call it "Look out! Express."

I'm usually a fairly upbeat guy. But then my name is Isaac, which in hebrew means "laughter" and I seem to have lived up to it.

Lynx I found a connection for you in my matchmaking 101 class....Take a look and let me know what you think. My first candidate for your Mrs. Lynx.

Oh sorry this slipped in from the What's Cooking? thread.......

 

[tourist]

Lynx I found a connection for you in my matchmaking 101 class....Take a look and let me know what you think. My first candidate for your Mrs. Lynx.

Oh sorry this slipped in from the What's Cooking? thread.......

She looks better with a little make-up, or if you have consumed copious amounts of alcohol.

 

[Descyple]

I'm the kind of person who looks at the glass not as half empty but as "half-full of chocolate milk".

But then I start wondering where the other half went and if I should take the chance of drinking chocolate milk that I never poured myself, and then I am consumed trying to discover where the glass of chocolate milk came from in the first place.

So I guess my outlook is "Optimistic, curious, and paranoid."

 

[Pipp]

Im a pretty positive person about 99% of the time.

 

[Shouryu]

Im a pretty positive person about 99% of the time.

Are you positive about that?

 

[Lynx]

Speaking of outlooks...

Dear optimist, pessimist and realist:
While you were arguing about whether the glass was half full or half empty, I drank the rest of the glass.
Sincerely,
The opportunist.


Sociology professor to class: "A pessimist would say this glass is half empty. An optimist would say something really annoying and naive."

 

[Shouryu]

Speaking of outlooks...

Dear optimist, pessimist and realist:
While you were arguing about whether the glass was half full or half empty, I drank the rest of the glass.
Sincerely,
The opportunist.


Sociology professor to class: "A pessimist would say this glass is half empty. An optimist would say something really annoying and naive."

The optimist says the glass is half full.
The pessimist says the glass is half empty.
The musician orders another round.

 

[oldernotwiser]

half full? half empty? just be thankful when you have a glass. even when you have a decent fire going in the trash can it can be pretty cold standing around down there by the abandoned factory and and drinking from a bottle.

 

[JesusLives]

I always called my self a pessimistic optimist....contradictory terms I know... However, being orphaned by the age of 12 I determined I did not want people to feel sorry for me so I took on this personality of humor to cover the sadness hiding deep inside.

I knew the reality of life could really suck in a word, but I always had hope for a better tomorrow which turn into today's... If you'd ask people around me they would say I am happy as my favorite saying is You carry your happiness with you, meaning it is a choice. I generally leave a trail of laughter and have for most of my life as it is so much more fun to laugh than it is to cry.

When I hit 40 my spirit was officially broken and I did attempt suicide and with medical/mental health professionals and Zoloft learned to not be broken... Wish I could say I had Jesus then but didn't realize that He was there at the time. He came later or I turned and found Him again later. I see now that Jesus is the one who saved me from myself at that time and I am grateful for the extra years of life I have had since 40 which is almost most 20 of them now.

With Jesus in my life the laughter came back....so I am still the pessimistic optimist and I think with that half full glass I'd like another round please because I also have the music in me......lol.......see post #15

 

[Lynx]

The optimist says the glass is half full.
The pessimist says the glass is half empty.
The musician orders another round.

Which ish why I like to be around mushishians. They got the music in them, they (hiccup) know how to have a shwinging time!

 

[arwen-undomiel]

I used to be quite cynical and despairing. I do still get easily discouraged sometimes when personal roadblocks come my way. But I am a very positive, empowering, excitable person in the work that I do with other people. Depends on areas of life I guess.

 

[Roh_Chris]

My outlook is busy with meetings all through the week. Could we defer the appointment for next month? You can use your Scheduling Assistant to send me a meeting request.

I am a mix of pessimism and optimism. Usually I am like 'Tiger' in Winnie-the-pooh going *boing boing boing*, singing all the time and cheering everybody up. When I am gloomy, I can be worse than Eeyore. These days I'm going through a rough patch so I am a bit mellow.