A Letter to Pessimists

Dear Pessimists,
You go by many names. Pessimists, Negative Nancy's, Hateful Harriets, Gloomy Gabriella's. But you're message is always the same. Life sucks, the glass is half empty, etc. You look at things that inspire, entertain, innovate, and find their negative qualities. But it doesn't just stop there. You're not satisfied quite yet. You stand there, filled with cynicism and hate, and you realize that you feel awful. You need to do... something. Something to relieve yourself of your burden. And so you decide to pass the hate on. You think "maybe if I make everyone as angry as me, I won't feel so alone anymore."

And I know that you think you're justified. "It's not like it's just me," you say to yourself. "There are plenty of people that agree with me." Well I'm sorry to inform you Nancy/Harriet/Gabriella, but the sad truth is you are alone. Don't let the comment sections fool you. The negative voices, the voices you know so well, are typically the loudest. But that DOES NOT make them the right ones. Saying or writing something negative, and then surrounding yourself with those who agree with you isn't living.
In fact I'd say that it's the exact opposite; a delusion that you surround yourself in which everybody is angry and lonely and therefore no one is. Don't kid yourself. Don't pretend that hate and intolerance would somehow go away if they became universal.

Instead... do something different. Change the cycle. Look up from your screen and say "I can change. I can see things differently. I can realize that life isn't about death and despair. It's about happiness and love and laughter. It's about the small moments that nobody else knows about, the moments that make me me." And I know it's scary. Thoughts are shooting through your head, thoughts filled with doubt and worry. "What if I can't change?" "What if my fate is inevitable?"  "What if this?" "What if that?" But that's the thing about "what if". It can be the cause of doubt and fear. But it can also give you hope and strength. So stop asking "what if I can't", and start asking the more important question, the question that could change your whole life. "What if... I can?"