Musings 1.7
“The Cynicism Safety Blanket” - Chris Williamson
This is more of a concept than it is a quote which is a little different to what I have been posting here but I guess I make the rules so this is what I’ve chosen to do this week. The concept and its application are something I love but to properly explain it, I’ve taken a Twitter post from Chris:
The Cynicism Safety Blanket.
Cynicism is a guarded response which sets yourself up against disappointment.
Its role within the system is to protect you against experiencing anything bad.
It is a pre-emptive strike against a perceived threat.
If I tell myself that ‘all women are bad’, then I’m less likely to seek a relationship with women and, as a consequence, I’m never going to feel the pain of rejection.
If I tell myself that ‘everything is shit’ or that ‘things will never get better’, then I am excused of ever having to try at anything.
It’s more comfortable to get fatalistic and call it pragmatism.
The cope is framing hope as pathetic and embarrassing and optimism as delusion.
It’s “sour grapes” at an existential level.
If everything sucks, and everyone is horrible, and reality is disappointing and you know that for a fact – then it’s the people acting like things can be better that are dumb, delusional and the problem.
The upside of never trying is never having to feel the pain of failure.
The kicker here is the final line. This is something I run into all the time when I’m talking to people about goal setting and the concept of failure. There are a lot of people who would rather not set any goals whatsoever because it’s putting them in a position where failure is an option and that’s a pain that they cannot bring themselves to bear.
But what’s the alternative? I hope you can see the answer to that yourself.
The issue with most pessimists is they don’t often restrain their viewpoints solely to their own circumstances. They are often led to becoming self-described “realists” and taking on the role of poking holes in other people’s ambitions.
This leaves us with a pretty simple conclusion in my opinion.
An optimist at least puts themselves in a position to achieve, or learn, or grow. A pessimist can only experience one of two things:
Satisfaction that they were right and they can celebrate the failure of others.
A failure of their own judgement when they are proved wrong and someone succeeds.
The lesson behind this concept is a very simple one that shouldn’t need as much explanation as it does but sometimes the simple things are the ones we overlook and they hold the most value.
Choose positivity, choose optimism, and choose to give yourself the best mindset to make the most of what’s in front of you.
Canon G12. ISO 160 | f2.8 | 1/1250