Optimism vs. Complacency

"A real optimist wakes up every morning knowing lots of stuff is broken, and more stuff is about to break."

I read this quote recently and as a self-identified optimist, it made me think. Isn't optimism about a frolicking outlook on the world? About the happy, happy go-getter?

I sometimes have a nagging feeling that there is a certain unhealthy aspect to my optimism: The danger of being "too optimistic" (the world is great!) and the resulting slide into turning a blind eye and complacency. So I went into a research rabbit hole to uncover what optimism actually entails and what its dangerous counterpart is that I feel lurking behind my enthusiasm for the world.

Optimism

The Dictionary says that optimism is:

"the tendency to look on the more favourable side of events or conditions and the belief that good ultimately predominates over evil in the world."

Okay so the first part is self-explanatory, but the second part is where the real treasure lies.

What this definition leads me to believe is, that while an optimist does have a positive outlook in the long-term, he actually expects the world around him to break. He knows that the bad stuff is necessary and normal and leads the way to eventual progress and positive outcomes. And he also knows that if he can survive the day-to-day realities of bad stuff happening in the world, it will eventually get better and his hard work pays out over time.

And following that train of thought, an optimist is someone who understands that the math of compounding interest doesn't mean the biggest wins necessarily go to those with the highest returns, but in fact to those who earn pretty good returns maintained for the longest period of time (whether in business, relationships, and personal life).

Opportunities and good outcomes come to those with endurance! His Plan B has a plan B. He knows that if he doesn't quit, he will eventually have good outcomes.

Complacency

So what about complacency then? I found this:

A complacent person is a dreamer masquerading as an optimist.

Interesting, so a complacent person somehow has a conviction that he’s smart and in control. Smiles when he gets up in the morning knowing that the world is just great. Then he takes risks, just like the optimist. But he doesn’t think they’re risky. He calls them opportunities. Until shit hits the fan.

He isn’t prepared for setbacks. When one arrives, his mindset of, “Be optimistic. Everything will be OK,” turns complacency into ignorance. The setback festers, compounds, and – since he has no room for error, no Plan B – eventually forces him into an action he doesn’t want to take. He has to sell his investment. Or quit his job. Scrap his lifestyle. Leave a relationship.

That makes him upset. Things he loved – jobs, friends, security, dreams – are taken away from him.

He becomes cynical. And cynicism turns him into a pessimist (someone who, like the optimist knows the reality of shit hitting the fan sometimes, but doesn't believe it ever gets better).

Moral of the story: So even if I am an optimist, it's healthy to reality-check my positive outlook. Stuff is going to break. That is how the world works. But all the while I keep my conviction that if I keep at it until the end, it gets better for those that don't give up. That's a liberating thought, isn't it?