New Year’s tips in comics
I’m not going to tell you to stop being a pessimist. There are plenty of reasons to be one in 2023 and the era of toxic positivity is over. I will tell you how to be a happy pessimist (or attempt to be one)!
Disclaimer: This article is written having in mind that you are a pessimist who wants things to be better. If you think you like evil, please reconsider and try to find out who you truly are.
1. Use pessimism for humor
Don’t be afraid to be a pessimist, when it is warranted to be one. Only when we acknowledge what is bad, can we actually start fixing it, and we can also use our pessimistic powers for good. A lesser-known fact about pessimists is that they have a very good sense of humor. Granted, sometimes it comes out as cynicism, but more often than not it is humor at its finest.
My tip number one for all the pessimists who think there is no cure to their negative disposition is to make fun of it all. You think the world is going to end? Come up with a sci-fi scenario in which it will happen and make fun of the type of character you think you would be in this story. But if you are thinking of the darkest possible scenarios that are unlikely to happen (you can ask a statistician about the likelihood), then just make fun of yourself for even thinking about it.
Even with humor, we sometimes still feel sad about the state of things in the world. If climate change, wars, economic crises, etc. make us feel desperate, it’s easy to get overwhelmed. My next tip is about overcoming this sadness.
2. Find an antidote to sadness
The only antidote to sadness is choosing to do what makes you happy, not what you think you should do because you feel the societal pressure to behave like everyone else. When we are in touch with our emotions, we know what makes us happy. And when we do it, all the good stuff will follow and we will create positive changes in the world. But what if you feel like you have no control over almost anything?
3. Do what you can do.
A wise wizard once said:
All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.
(From LOTR, The Fellowship of the Ring)
That’s it. It’s that easy. Maybe we cannot solve climate change or politics but we can do only what we can do, with the time and place that we are in. Each one of us also has a set of skills, aspirations, and perspectives that are unique. Only some of us can do some of the things, even if those things are writing an aspirational post on Medium, making our friends feel better, or spending time with our families… Everything counts.
We can only do our best or sometimes our medium, and that is enough (it has to be if we want to be happy pessimists). Let’s go and do what we can do!
These 3 tips are my recipe for a happy pessimist. Enjoy and let me know if it works out for you. Happy new year!
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