About the
Pessimist
/ Skeptic Personality Subself
Can you think of someone who is
often skeptical about people, new ideas, changes, and
events? Would you rank them as a
pessimist too? A
skeptical attitude comes from one or more active
subselves who protect
against situational pain and loss from betrayals, disappointments, and "the un-known." Pessimism
(a glass-half-empty attitude) is a more global
belief that the world is inevitably more painful / unsafe than pleasurable / safe.
Some
people also have
developed a protective
subself, who
constantly forecasts the worst possible things will surely occur. Others evolve
a
and/ or
Guardian to augment the Skeptic / Pes-simist. These may be up to five
separate
or one all-purpose
person-ality "part." They're all fiercely protective of the
the
the
and/or the
They
believe the
won't or can't
protect these young ones, so they must do so. This is one reason trying to shame
or persuade "a pessimist" to "lighten up and see the good around you" will
never cause a permanent attitude shift. The Pessimist / Skeptic also
guards against too much influence by
and
subselves.
Until choosing to
from false-self
people can be over-controlled
by the Pessimist / Skeptic subself. This inhibits healthy
risk-taking
and accepting or initiating needed change, and can cause
others to c/overtly avoid the "negative" person. True wound-recovery promotes the
Inner Children to be reliably protected by the
and other
subselves,
freeing the Guardians to relax and eventually take on more useful personality
roles. As this happens,
skeptical and pessimistic people become more
balan-ced in seeing the world as an interesting blend of "good and bad."
Ultimately, they may become "realistic optimists," tending to see the
possible good in people and situations without expecting the unlikely or
impossible.
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