Seriously, I often am too much of a Pollyanna. I think I can do twice as much as I can in the time allotted. Or that the news will be half as bad as it is. Or that things will happen twice as fast as they do. I don’t think that being a Pollyanna is a bad thing, but sometimes it does have a downside – when bad news does come I’m not always prepared. And being a Pollyanna can be annoying to some of one’s friends at times (people don’t always want to be around someone cheerful when they are worried).
I’ve thought a lot about the problems a Pollyanna can face because in my latest book, A Dropped Stitches Wedding, my heroine, Lizabett MacDonald, is one. Even when she had cancer (before the book begins), she thought things would be okay. Lizabett is the one person in the Sisterhood of the Dropped Stitches who steadfastly believes that good things will come. No matter what happens she sees the glass as halfway full.
How about you? Would you call yourself a Pollyanna? Or a realist? Or a dreamer perhaps? Leave me a comment and let me know. And, if you are a Pollyanna, try to think of one problem this has caused in your life.
I’ve thought a lot about the problems a Pollyanna can face because in my latest book, A Dropped Stitches Wedding, my heroine, Lizabett MacDonald, is one. Even when she had cancer (before the book begins), she thought things would be okay. Lizabett is the one person in the Sisterhood of the Dropped Stitches who steadfastly believes that good things will come. No matter what happens she sees the glass as halfway full.
How about you? Would you call yourself a Pollyanna? Or a realist? Or a dreamer perhaps? Leave me a comment and let me know. And, if you are a Pollyanna, try to think of one problem this has caused in your life.
5 comments:
Janet, I'm a Pollyanna, too. The eternal optimist. What's funny, though, is that I'm a worrier, too! Don't know how I manage to be both. LOL
Missy
There are many situations in life where “thinking makes it so”. This is why placebos often work and why athletes, who can strongly visualize victory before an event, have a decided advantage. Pollyannas, however, can be very lackadaisical about getting medical exams.
I prefer to be a polyoptimist(many optimisms): someone who is optimistic in situations where “thinking tends to make it so” and realistic in situations where skepticism makes one ‘test the water’ before diving in. (If I am flying across the Atlantic, I want a pilot who sees the gas tank as half empty.)
I think one could paraphrase Ecclesiastics to say that there is a time for optimism and a time for pessimism. Wisdom is the ability to know the difference.
Vince
Missy -- You nust have some interesting conversations with yourself! LOL
Vince -- You make a good point. When there's something to be done, just thinking positive isn't enough.
I'm far from a Pollyanna. I'm always afraid of when the other foot will fall. But God has really been working on me as far as hope this year. So, while I'm a realist, I am also a dreamer because I know that God gives us dreams. And He is the God of ALL hope.
Janet, thank you for this tought-provoking post.
Great questions.
Cheryl
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