Optimist or pessimist? People tend to opt for one or the other.
‘I’m a glass half-empty person,’ they say or, ‘She’s very much a glass half-full girl!’
Sir William Golding, the author of the compelling but bleak ‘Lord of the Flies’ story, straddled both labels by calling himself ‘a universal pessimist and a cosmic optimist’.
The universe is the sum of human behaviour – the empirical evidence, the sort we see on the news, the sort we know about from human history, revealing our endless capacity for greed, hate and cruelty.
The cosmos, on the other hand, is the totality of all that is, including the darkness, but not consumed by it. Here is the mystery of existence, mind, body, spirit; human and God – the bigger, but more elusive, story.
In Golding’s picture, the universe is that part of us on self-destruct; the cosmos, the distant rumour of other ways to live – something higher, truer, better.
You may know both the universe and the cosmos inside you. But maybe, in the end, neither optimism nor pessimism are helpful states; each lacking integrity in themselves.
Optimism must be determinedly blind to the twisted agendas on display in the world – our secular and religious landscape littered with lies, ignorance and the misuse of power.
While pessimism must resolutely turn its head away from the goodness and miracle in history – a different telling, where inspiring tales of courage, hope and creativity abound.
Some of us live both these states. I know a woman who swings between optimism and pessimism in her present relationship; from heady excitement to abandonment fears. And the mood swings are difficult for her partner.
But then she finds his monochrome pessimism difficult as well. ‘There’s so much he doesn’t see and cannot feel. He thinks he’s wise but he’s like a blinkered horse.’
Often optimism is another word for escapism; and pessimism, another word for depression – neither of which make accurate assessments of life.
Life is speckled: it cannot be labelled so simply, declared this colour or that colour.
And with this in mind, I offer the following story. So, if you’re sitting comfortably…
There was once a man in a village, called Pedro and he owned a horse. It was his only livestock, and very important, until one night, the horse ran away, leaving him with nothing.
The next day, the villagers gathered around him and declared, ‘Terrible news about your horse running away, Pedro!’
And Pedro, staying firmly in the present, said, ‘Could be bad news, could be good news.’
They all scratched their heads. What sort of a response was that?
Two days later, Pedro’s horse returned – only with twenty wild horses as well. So now he had twenty-one horses!
The following day the villagers gathered around him and declared, ‘Terrific news about your lost horse bringing back twenty more horses, Pedro!’
And Pedro, staying firmly in the present, said ‘Could be good news, could be bad news.’
They all scratched their heads. What sort of a response was that?
Two days later, he was breaking in the wild horses, when one of them threw him off and he broke his leg in the fall.
The following day, the villagers gathered around him and declared, ‘Terrible news about you breaking your leg, Pedro!’
And Pedro, staying firmly in the present, said ‘Could be bad news, could be good news.’
They all scratched their heads. What sort of a response was that?
A week later, a recruiting sergeant turned up in the village, forcing the residents to sign up for the army, to go away and fight in a bloody war. But because of his broken leg, Pedro couldn’t go.
The following day, the villagers gathered around him and declared, ‘Terrific news about you not having to go to war, Pedro!’
And Pedro, staying firmly in the present, said, ‘Could be good news, could be bad news.’
They all scratched their heads. What sort of a response was that?
We’ll stop the story there. (It can go on.) But maybe in the end, both optimism and pessimism, as lived by the villagers, are an emotional half-holiday, offering nothing.
It is Pedro’s acceptance of life which shines.
Present calm amid our unfolding lives – both the life within us and the life around us – is a cheerier, wiser and more grounded, companion.
It can look reality in the eye with neither fear nor despair.
Could be good news, could be bad news.
