Negativity - good or bad?

Negativity has always had a bad rap, since too much of it can really drain the people around, emotionally. It can suck the life out of your friends, if you happen to be negative. Folks might even stop talking to you altogether, if you are a constant nay-sayer. Nothing can bring down and crush a person's hope and joy like a few caustic words from a confirmed cynic.

However, lately, I have started appreciating the value of having such people in my life. They are few, but very important to me. I am a born optimist. Although I do have more than my share of feeling low and depressed at times, I can pretty much bounce back very quickly to my happy state. The world can collapse around me, and I will probably be the only person around who will comment on how, at least the weather, has been cooperative, and hasn't been too hot/rainy/cold etc. I always like to focus on the positive, and ignore the negative. I think that's a good thing, too. But sometimes (after talking to the nay-folk) I realize that I had actually ignored a couple of warning signs about some stuff, and then it gets really bad, and I'm still in denial, looking for that silver lining.

I think I need to add a little negativity to my chirpy and buoyant self, for my own self-preservation. If once in a while I say to myself, "My life isn't going anywhere", I think I would be forced to evaluate my life choices and consider some long-due changes. If I say to myself, "I don't think such-and-such will work", I will try to do better on that task. I say this because I usually will settle for much less than par efforts from my side. I'll just say to myself, "What is the worst that can happen? Who really cares? It's more important that we are all healthy and well, and have each other. Just look at the big picture and be happy!!!" And then of course, I don't have to remedy the situation, because I am feeling all peaceful and content. So why not surf the net a little while longer? Why cook lunch just for myself when I can eat some junk food? Why monitor my weight - isn't what's inside that matters? I am a good person, after all, and I love myself. So I am one with the world, my soul is in utter bliss, blah-blah-blah.

Yes, I am on the other extreme - dangerously optimistic, until the s--t hits the fan. Then I start a 15-minute rant full of regrets, and then bounce back again to my nirvana-ic state. So, in my opinion, too much optimism is just as bad as too much pessimism - probably worse. At least a pessimist will try to be prepared for all the doom she forsees, whilst an optimist might be in denial about critically important issues.

This is what I intend to do from now on: I will still retain my chirpy nature - cannot see myself shaking my head at everything in life - but every once in a while, I will shake my finger at myself for my mistakes (which I make all the time :), wipe the smile off my mind, and make serious amends, so I (and my loved ones) don't have to face the same unfortunate incidents again (or at least less frequently). A little bit of negativity is actually healthy for me.

I would love to hear about what you think of this post. And, thank you for visiting my blog :)