Why am I such a Miserable Old Fart?

It’s easy being pessimistic when you are a grumpy old man like me, with nothing but endless conflict, the continuing economic crisis, and Mayan predictions of something terrible to come.

So all I can see in front of me is the impending march of doom.  For every minute the clock passes, brings me ever more closer to extinction.

This awareness of my own mortality brings with it cynicism, as I cast envious eyes over the world that I will soon no doubt leave. For vengeance I wish nothing but misery for the rest of you poor souls who will remain in this apparent  existence of suffering.

But then again, why would I want to spend anymore time here being tortured by this miserable and superficial planet anyway, with its competitively violent human beings and their ignorant ways – maybe I am the fortunate one.

Schopenhauer Predicted the World Will End in 2012, not the Mayans

Another grumpy old man that agreed with my pessimism of life was German Philosopher, Arthur Schopenhauer, who had an extremely bleak outlook on existence as a whole.

In short, Arthur’s philosophy of existence was that life itself must have been an accident, a cruel joke played on us unsuspecting victims.  As observed by Arthur,

“Human existence must be a kind of error…it may be said of it, ‘it is bad today and every day it will get worse, until the worst of all happen’”

A very depressing and sobering thought indeed from Mr Grumpy himself, but in reality, Arthur wasn’t a bad old fellow and had much wisdom and compassion for humankind’s lot, which ultimately pained him towards a pessimistic view of life.

I still would have to agree (obviously I would, with him being a fellow misery guts) with some of Arthur’s observations on human suffering in general.  However, Arthur did have a serious intolerance to noise and almost pushed a woman, who was gossiping outside his door, down a flight of stairs because of it – the reason for his apparent indiscretion is intimated in his following quote,

“Noise is the most impertinent of all forms of interruption. It is not only an interruption, but is also a disruption of thought”

Yes, Arthur had his issues and could be a miserable old beggar at times (aren’t we all?  Okay, I’m speaking for myself), but I’m sure all of us have had something to complain and be miserable about in our troublesome lives.

Find a Purpose and Meaning to your Life toward having Optimism For Tomorrow

So what can be done to relieve any pessimistic views that one might have?

Surely there is more to life than just existing, and there must be a chance for a brighter future despite whatever I or my fellow pessimists may think.  So if you are a person who suffers from pessimism in life, you must aim to transform your negative viewpoint into optimism by finding something worth living for, and use that something as a motivating factor towards vanquishing any feelings of futility.

It is totally in our power to give our life meaning and to remain optimistic about the future.  However, sometimes one cannot help but feel the seemingly pointlessness of life, but there is much we can hope to achieve and look forward to:

• what more can you live for if you are a parent who is responsible for nurturing your child
• daily self-learning towards self-knowledge, wisdom and continuous spiritual growth
• opportunity to remove any ignorance, fear or apathy you may have so you can face life with confident vigour
• overcoming present troubles, to instead find joy in life
• finding something of interest and of value to learn and use for the benefit of your life
• realising your goals towards total fulfillment and happiness
• developing closer bonds in all your personal relationships
• teaching or guiding another pessimistic human being toward self-fulfillment
• living a wise, good and happy life before departing gracefully

Just take a look at that inspirational list above, my friend.  It should provide you with many reasons to be optimistic about your existence on this insignificant dot in the universe.  All you need do, is to free your mind and give life a chance to teach you a positive and purposeful lesson that you have been sceptical of up to now.

So have no fear of what tomorrow brings, just develop a positive mindset for the present moment, which should give you the impetus to go on to achieve anything of benefit for your mind and spirit.

What else can we hope to achieve in this apparently short life?  ‘Marcus Aurelius, would you please?’

“Live each day as if it were your last.”

6 Steps Towards Freedom from Pessimism

Before I go to put my bunion-ridden feet up in front of the telly and complain about the crap that’s being shown, I will leave you with some sound advice on overcoming pessimism, and for you not to become as grumpy as me:

1. Always live in the present and have no fear with what the future brings.  Fear of the unknown can cause anxiety and pessimism of what’s to come
2. Embracing the hope of a positive future can make you feel at ease with whatever difficulty you may be presently experiencing, not to mention opening avenues for you to find greater meaning and purpose in your own lives
3. Always keep in mind that you are growing wise, and not old.  This will help to remove your self-imposed pessimism (and grumpiness) regarding the detriments of old age, ‘To grow old is no evil, just learn to cultivate your mind into becoming like fine wine’
4. Remain young at heart and find joy and laughter in everything you do
5. Have goals in life to give you some purpose to get up for, no matter how small
6. Create, learn or discover something of positive value and worth living for

Related posts:

1. Philosophy: A Guide to Happiness (Part 5) – Arthur Schopenhauer
2. Think Your Way to a Successful Life with The Master Key System
3. Will’s Words of Wisdom
4. The Truth is the Power of God is in you!