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Glass Half Full

2010 March 21
by Stanley Quan

I’m an optimist. I like to see the glass as half full, rather than half empty.

It doesn’t mean that I only focus on good news at the expense of bad news. But I believe there’s almost always a good way to look at things. I mean, there’s so many options, so why not choose a positive one?

After a quick search, I found that there actually comes a point when optimism becomes a detriment. Researchers at Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business have discovered that while optimists tend to behave in more financially prudent ways than most, extreme optimists tend to have “short planning horizons” and more frequently act in unwise ways.

Furthermore, Manju Puri writes, “The differences between optimists and extreme optimists are remarkable, and suggest that over-optimism, like overconfidence, may in fact lead to behaviors that are unwise.”

I think that if you do what you need to do and follow your heart, things will always tend to work out in the end.

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3 Responses
  1. March 21, 2010

    Well, extreme anything is usually bad. I mean, too much of a good thing, right?

    I think balance is usually the key. Things like pessimism and depression are not necessarily bad either, despite how we think of them. It’s just that, like optimism and confidence, too much can knock our lives out of alignment.

    You need positive thinking to keep yourself happy and sane and not dwelling on mistakes of the past, but you need negative thinking to help analyze problems. So balance.

  2. Aparna Bhat permalink
    March 22, 2010

    YAY GLASS HALF FULL!

  3. March 22, 2010

    Yeah, I agree a good balance is the way to go. At times, seeing the glass half full helps me put things in better perspective.

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