I’m a pessimist and it’s no secret. I always see the negative in life. The glass is always half empty and the worst is always going to happen. It’s portrayed as a bad thing. I’m always told to lighten up and look on the bright side. And I’m not disputing that there are a number of benefits to positive thinking. And there are downsides to thinking pessimistically. But did you know about the pros of being a pessimist?
You rarely get disappointed
As Eeyore once said: “I never get my hopes up, so I never get let down.” And it’s true. If your expectations live at rock bottom, then you can only go up from there. Even if the outcome isn’t great, anything above the worst is better.
You get pleasantly surprised often
If you think only bad things are going to happen to you, then you expect very little in life. Following on from the point above, when your expectations live 10 feet below the ground, they tend to soar when something good inevitably happens.
You appreciate your trip to cloud nine; it serves as a nice break from the doom and gloom you’re used to.
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You can plan for the worst
Statistically, the worse things are the more anxious you become. If you think over all the negative outcomes, you can put an action plan in place for each of them, lowering how anxious you feel when these things roll around.
If it turns out the worst comes to fruition, pessimists tend to take less go a hit to their well-being than their optimistic counter-parts. Why? Because they’ve already put an action plan into place and decided where they want to go next.
Pessimists live longer
Low expectations for a happy future might actually propel you into old age. A study done by researcher Frieder R. Lang suggested that: “being overly optimistic in predicting a better future was associated with a greater risk of disability and death within the following decade.”
Those who overestimated what their future would look like saw a 9.5% increase in the chance they would report a disability and a 10% increase in the chance of death (such sunny content, I know!).
It appears that a darker outlook on what the future holds encourages people to live more carefully, taking health and safety precautions. Ergo, pessimists live longer.
Pessimist generally have better relationships 
One of the pros of being a pessimist is that you avoid being too hopeful and expecting too much. Without those massive expectations, you don’t get disappointed, like I mentioned before. Being more guarded, it’s harder to win over a pessimists trust but with perseverance, the walls start to come down. So it may not seem like a good thing at the start of the relationship but it’s worth it in the end.
Of course, for as many of the pros of being a pessimist, there are an equal number of pros to being anything else. I’m not claiming it’s better to be a pessimist, just shining an optimistic light on life as a pessimist.
Photo by Nathan Dumlao on Unsplash
22 comments
Wow, this was actually a really interesting and eye opening post honestly!
http://rues-style.blogspot.ca
This gave me a giggle, especially the second one. I do often end up being surprised because something other than the worst happens!
Lovely little list! I would never have thought to have write about something like this 🙂
– Nyxie
I can relate to this so much! When things go right I’m pleasantly surprised and appreciate it more, but if things go wrong I’m kind of like eh, I expected that, so I’m not too disappointed. Of course like you said it’s not always a good thing but I’m glad someone else feels the same way. Interesting facts and stats too!
I’m definitely the same! Thanks for reading, lovely! Glad you enjoyed! x
These are good pro’s of being a pessimist, in a way it’s good not too get your hopes up, you never get let down then! xx
Lucy | http://www.lucymary.co.uk
Exactly! That’s always been my moto! Thanks for reading, Luce! x
Thanks for sharing, very interesting post. How long have you been blogging for?
Glad you enjoyed reading! And I’ve been blogging for almost six months now! x
I can be such a pessimist, so I 100% understand all of these!
Love, Amie ❤
The Curvaceous Vegan
I’m glad I’m not alone! Thanks for reading x
Very interesting. I like how you added gifs to this post. It adds another level of eye catching content. Keep up the good work. 🙂
~Because She Writes
Thank you so much, lovely! Glad you enjoyed! x
This is awesome—I am so into this post. Don’t tell anyone, but this sunshine-driven content is all a facade for the doom, gloom, and eye-rolling happening underneath the surface. 😉 Thanks for sharing!
I’m a pessimist and I’ve always felt guilty for it but there’s so much truth in this, everything is a bonus if you are negative 😁
Love this, Han! I like to say I’m being realistic or prepared rather than pessimist, but it doesn’t stop others from calling me out. 😂
Really interesting to think of it like this. Thanks for sharing xx
Can a true pessimist really see the pros of being pessimistic? 😝
One thing that make me feel really negative though, is overly optimistic people who denies reality and claim positive thinking can solve anything 🙄
HAHAH the first two made me laugh. It’s so true, and that’s how I usually psychologize myself when it came to school! I always thought I had scored low… and it turns out I did amazing. Now when I think the OPPOSITE, that is usually when I’m in trouble LOL. I didn’t know they lived longer, I would have thought the opposite. Haha thank you for a good laugh and lovely post girl! 😉
I’m definitely a pessimist, I have totally experienced being pleasantly surprised when something goes well, and to be fair it does help make me feel good about myself and life at that time and then I go back to being a pessimist haha. I would have never looked at it this way though, I’ve always thought being optimistic is the best way and the only way you should be but this gives me a little hope, great post!
Chloe xx
My mum and also her mum before always looked at all the things that could go wrong. This has rubbed off on me to an extent. It can be useful sometimes, but at others it drives me nuts😂 Interesting post x
This is so funny!
Katie | katieemmabeauty.com
Awww Hannah this is SO interesting – and a very positive way of looking at it 😛
Great writing – thanks for sharing
p.s I have way too many expectations and daydreams haha
-Lena
http://www.lenasnotebook.co.uk