Half-Empty or Half-Full? The Value of Optimism / Pessimism

For our February gathering...
Are you optimistic or pessimistic about the future of...your life? the country? the world?

Is it "getting better all the time," as the Beatles sang? (Or is that only because "it can't get no worse"?) Do you have "a feeling '26 is gonna be a good year," or do you have "no reason to be over-optimistic?" (The Who)

Do you think it's good and helpful to be optimistic? Or to be pessimistic? Or a bit of both? How do hope and realism factor in?

There's research that shows that optimism is beneficial for well being, but that too much optimism is detrimental to responding appropriately in real crises. Here is an article with a graph tracking global optimism / pessimism, though it specifically seems to have markets (and perhaps climate change) in mind: https://trellis.net/article/mapping-global-optimism-pessimism-2026/

Come join us to listen and share your thoughts!

Cheers!