Do you know the story of Pandora's box? To be honest, I have never really known what is with that box but have heard that opening it is never a good thing!
I read the following paragraph which gave me inspiration for this post:
"As the familiar legend has it, Pandora, a princess of ancient Greece, was given a gift, a mysterious box, by gods jealous of her beauty. She was told she must never open the gift. But one day, overcome by curiosity and temptation, Pandora lifted the lid to peek in, letting loose in the world the grand afflictions - disease, malaise, madness. But a compassionate god let her close the box just in time to capture the one antidote that makes life's misery bearable: hope."
'Emotional Intelligence - Why it can matter more than IQ'
The chapter this came from is all about the power of positive thinking and the difference between optimists and pessimists. Optimists are the forever hopeful and positive, and achieve their goals more often than pessimists.
On reflection of this, I would really like to know if you can motivate a pessimist the same way as an optimist? An optimist is more likely to seek answers and alternatives to problems, however if this is not they way of the pessimist, how does one encourage change?
Another question that comes to mind - 'Are people hardwired one way or the other?' If we are hardwired as a pessimist, is change possible? Can a pessimist learn to incorporate hope into their world and see life as an optimist? I would hate to think that once a pessimist always a pessimist.
So how will I find this out? Something for me to ponder a little while.
Veronica Wood
No comments:
Post a Comment