I don't actully think of each and every person who has it worse. I just try to think, it could be worse. It has been worse. Pull myself up by those old bootstraps and keep going.

Somedays it is really hard dealing with emotions that are so bad, there has to be a way to get out from underthem. When I compare it to someone else, I think, 'They are still making it, life isn't impossible, there must be an answer....'

I think the older I get, the easier it is to feel the glass is half full. I've been there, done that, suffered through things that I won't ever again {at least I don't think so....} and had some wonderful joys that can not be taken away. Those things are in my glass, keeping it half full.

MouseWife, that summarizes alot of my feelings too. I think I'm a half full person.

That means we have alot of living left to do, right? :D

Realism is, in it's pure distilled form, is an anathema to my beloved romanticism. Sure it can bring you back from both swings from overly pessimistic to overly optimistic states, but I couldn't see purposefully striving for that pure balance at 50% as any less tragic than seeking out a completely empty or full world view.

A more eastern philosophic look at this question would throw away the glass metaphor entirely, and perhaps set up an image of a person floating in the ocean, out way past the breakwater, unable to fully see how the waves interact with them from outside of themselves, either looking up at a looming wave or down on the displaced trough from what appears to be the top of the world. So.... which perspective would you prefer, grasshopper? :confused:


Grasshopper:

Me:

I don't purposely strive for anything in regards to my perspective, nor do I particularly consider my life tragic, thank you very much. Quite the opposite.

As I've said before, people often mistake my even-keel demeanor for "emotionless." I'm far from it. I experience emotional extremes as much as anybody. But I recognize them as temporary and am able to experience them rather than allowing them to control me.

Mind you, I'm using words like "recognize" and "allow" purely for convenience sake. It's hardly that conscious of a thing. I am not making some huge effort to suppress emotional responses or bottle anything. It's just the way my brain filters emotions naturally.

The best is yet to come.

Why you green blooded, inhuman, Vulcan.................

Me and GD are in synch on this.

I remember being at a job interview years ago, and getting this question. I answered "both." The interviewer gave me a puzzled look, and I then said, "half empty and half full are mutually inclusive states. They're both true at the same time." She seemed baffled by this, so I said to her,"Imagine I have a golf ball. One side is painted red and the other side is painted blue. If I ask you, is this golf ball half red or half blue, what would you answer?" She smiled and said, "Of course, both." I told her that is how I view the glass. I got the job, but I think it was in spite of, not because of, this exchange.