Life is a series of self-fulfilling prophecies. Your expectations (particularly in terms of your expectations for other people) will frequently turn out to be justified.

Not always... but frequently.

*Pause. Hit search. Enter in either of the following terms: "bucky fuller's optimism" or "stalin's paranoia". Chances are you won't find anything. But if something did come up, chances are it would be a link to Robert Anton Wilson's essay on self-fulfilling prophecies. Buy the book.*

Back to the topic. Your expectations will frequently be met. If nothing else, your expectations contribute to what happens to you.

Consider: Unrealistically low expectations (read �pessimism�) will have quantifiable effects on how you behave. This is not just a matter of �if you believe you won�t stand a chance, you won�t try as hard, and therefore your chances will plummet� (although that is true). It is also a matter of �if you expect the worst, people will find you irritating and depressing, and will be less likely to provide you with the support and resources you need to succeed.�

Consider: I used to hold precisely the same viewpoint you did (right on down to the cutesy equating of �pessimism� with �realism�), and by god, it turned out that I was right... life treated me like crap, and nothing went my way. Big shock.

I turned it around at some point. I raised my expectations. I raised my hopes. I became less obnoxiously depressed. And things started changing. I started to feel... lucky. I started to be lucky. Big shock.

Consider: That would have been a fine enough stopping point, I suppose. But I thought, �hey, it�s working fine so far... why not push it a bit?� I started to have unreasonable expectations. Ridiculous expectations. I believed that LIFE itself should start making some accommodations on my behalf.

And I�ll be goddamned if it didn�t. Suddenly I wasn�t just �lucky�... I was downright blessed. Blessed with little things... unexpected letters just when I was feeling a little blue. Quarters on the sidewalk when I was 15 cents short for a soda. Blessed with big things... a surprising degree of financial security. True love. Monetary windfalls and unexpected comforts. Big shock.

Consider: The common argument against optimism is that you�ll be disappointed when things turn out badly.

Sorry to shoot down all my pessimist friends and neighbors... but no you won�t. Certainly not any more than the pessimists are. In fact, I dare say that those people I�ve met who are �pessimistic cuz then I won�t be disappointed when life is cruel� (Kim. Sarah. Dave. Russ.) seem much more profoundly effected by the negative things that happen to them than the people I know who take the opposite stance (Me. Don. Dan. Rance.).

Maybe that�s just because less bad things happen to the optimists... but I think that should tell you something too.