How optimistic/pessimistic are you, by nature?

[UrbScotty]

I mean, just generally, are you an optimist or a pessimist?

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

1. I'm optimistic

that it will never turn out :-)

[MrSlayer]

2. Generally Pessimistic.

Hey I'm from Philly, I have a right.

[Kenneth ken]

3. very optimistic

not only is that glass 3/4 empty, but the stuff left in it would certainly eat large holes throughout your entire digestive tract if you drank it!

[no_hypocrisy]

4. Generally, none of the above. I'm a realist and play the hand I'm dealt.

I try not to plan too far in advance.

[GOPisEvil]

5. Depends on the subject.

A little of both. :-)

[snoochie]

6. Need an option for "Swing wildly between the two."

Maybe I have a mood disorder.

[earthman dave]

9. I second that. nt

[ConcernedCanuk]

17. Second that again (or third or fourth, -- whatever)

.
.

[Nikia]

21. That's not strange for me

I am like that too. I think that it is a cycle. I am optimistic for a while. Then my hopes are crushed. Then I become pessimistic until things start going better. Then I am very optimistic. Until.
I think that it has to do with having high, sometimes unrealisitic expectations.

[lovedems]

7. Very optimistic and always hope for the best!

Sometimes it sucks when things don't work out but I think it makes me look years younger!

[patricia92243]

8. Opptomistic til started worrying about the future with Bush still in WH.

Then I feel pessimistic or maybe it's just SCARED!

[pacifictiger]

10. I tend to look at the glass more than half full

except that I'm not as trusting as I used to be since dirty politics started to become exposed. A pox on them all - we need real down to earth straight talking people back in control of this runaway train. When ethics are lost, we are all lost - and that means voting the way it is fashionable to vote rather standing up with courage for what is right.
I am very optimistic that honest people will eventually follow this bunch of war profiteers. How long depends on how long honest people are willing to prostitute their ideals for money or prestige.

[leftist_rebel1569]

11. Very very very optimistic

To put my optimism on a scale of 1-10, I'd put my optimism level at a solid 15. :)

[SOteric]

12. Jaded optimist? Optimistic cynic?

Perky pessimist?

[GOPisEvil]

14. LOL! Optimistic cynic!

That's me! No wonder we get on so well! :-)

[AlFrankenFan]

13. Generally a pessimist

but I've been trying to be a little more of an optimist cause being cynical about everything gets boring after a while...but then again so does being optimistic about everything.

[AlienGirl]

15. So pessimistic that...

I think Marvin the Paranoid Android was Pollyannic.

The glass is almost empty and there's a drought, besides; but it doesn't matter anyway because soon we, the glass, its contents, and the entire town will no doubt be wiped out by some new killer plague, or die of staration 'cause of the Depression that's about to happen.

Tucker

[KG]

16. life its ownself snuffed out whatever optimism i used to have.

i'm on cruise control anymore.

[dmr]

18. Very optimistic

Years ago some people called me Pollyanna. I don't hear it so much anymore, maybe cuz I and the movie are old and rusty. But a good old and rusty!
:evilgrin:

I just like to keep things in perspective, and chose to see roses than poison ivy. It's hard to find some kind of positive perspective at times these days, though, when I see so many people around us suffering, and so many who don't care, or chose to close their eyes. < sigh >

[BBradley]

19. Hope for the best, plan for the worst

slightly more hoping than planning though, but basically in the middle.

[Liberal Christian]

20. I'm more than optimistic

I'm hopeful.

Hope lives in me. It’s what enables me to get out of bed in the morning and put my feet on the floor, ready to face what’s in the world out there. It’s what drives every impulse toward good, I think. It’s what makes shy people get up and do what needs to be done – oh, wait – that’s Powdermilk Biscuits (heavens, they’re tasty and expeditious!). Hope is more than wishing. It’s more than optimism. Hope lives in our soul. It’s what counteracts despair. It’s what helps us find our way out of bleakness.

Emily Dickinson said
Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul,
And sings the tune without the words,
And never stops at all,

And sweetest in the gale is heard;
And sore must be the storm
That could abash the little bird
That kept so many warm.

I ’ve heard it in the chillest land,
And on the strangest sea;
Yet, never, in extremity,
It asked a crumb of me.

So, yes, I'm optimistic. But more than that, I live with the greatest of hope.