Here’s a dot. “.”
A dot is nothing but a circle with a really tiny radius, if we connect several of these dots together, we will get what you call a thin line.
Funnily enough, this thin line is the only thing that separates a lot of things in our world and in our lives.
There’s a thin line between love and hate.
There’s a thin line between responsibilities and burdens.
There is also a thin line between pessimism and realism and if you are lucky enough, there’s one between realism and optimism.
Every decision that we make, every choice that we make, comes with consequences.
The results could be good or bad, favorable or not so favorable.
Nevertheless, the outcome is certain and it is full of possibilities.
Optimism tells you that the outcome will be in your favor, and realism tells you that the outcome, in all its entirety, is already decided and no matter what you think, the circumstances will always get the better of you.
When we were little kids, we were usually positive and hopeful about everything. If you had a regular and normal childhood like me, all your demands must have been mostly met by your parents. When you live in a safe environment and rely on others to make decisions for you, you rarely see problems come your way. As we grow older and make decisions for ourselves, even the tiniest of them like what to order for dinner, we tend to contemplate our choices.
Let’s take the example of a mathematical number line, it starts from negative infinity and goes on still positive infinity.
The optimists live between zero to positive infinity and the realists live between to negative infinity to positive infinity. Whenever a result arrives, based on how favorable it is, one can always place them on this number line.
If it’s positive, the optimists find themselves in their comfort zone. If it’s not exactly the best result you could get, the realists find themselves in their comfort zone.
Here is the common thing though: both the realists and the optimists try to protect themselves from emotional damage. The optimists can’t bear the thought of anything going wrong while the realists can’t stand the thought of their hopes shattering. Both are right in their place and then again both are wrong: for the optimist never lands on the ground and the realist never dares to fly.
As fanatical as it may sound, realists are simply depriving themselves of the miraculous joys of life, one never knows what the next moment has in store for them.
While the optimists, on the other hand, are always waiting for something extravagant and hence missing out on the simplicities of life.
Stress is a choice, but then so is peace.
-Pakhi Katiyar
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