Pessimism

Buddhist Boot Camp Podcast

Timber Hawkeye

Spirituality, Buddhism, Awareness, Calm, Society & Culture, Meditation, Mindful, Buddhist, Philosophy, Awake, Minimalist, Innerpeace, Selfhelp, Spiritual, Education, Aware, Mindfulness, Self-improvement

4.8 • 907 Ratings

🗓️ 19 January 2023

⏱️ 6 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

I found myself surprisingly motivated by pessimistic thoughts, driven to action by what I previously thought was a "negative" perspective, but I now realize is neither "good" nor "bad," it's just another voice that needs to have equal say during the decision-making process. Now pessimism has a "seat at the table," so to speak. What motivates you?

Transcript

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0:17.0	Welcome to the Buddhist Boot Camp Podcast. Our intention is to awaken, enlighten, enrich, and inspire a simple and uncomplicated life. Discover the benefits of mindful living with your host, Timber Hawkeye.
0:39.0	I am typically a cross between an optimist and a realist. I can see the silver lining in every situation and often catch glimmers of hope for a brighter tomorrow. Recently, however, I found myself unexpectedly motivated by pessimism of all things, which the dictionary
0:45.9	defines as the tendency to believe the worst will happen.
0:50.4	After driving 17,000 miles around the US for the past three months,
0:54.8	sleeping on a different couch each night of the book tour,
0:57.9	I briefly returned home to prepare for the next leg of the tour across Australia, New Zealand, and the UK.
1:04.8	That final day on the road in the US began with an eight hour drive that started in below
1:10.1	freezing temperatures but ended on California's warm and beautiful
1:14.4	Central Coast. All I wanted to do was crawl into my own bed for the first time in
1:19.4	months, but there were two hours of sunlight left, and although a part of me said,
1:24.3	just relax tonight, timber, and go on a hike tomorrow,
1:27.6	a new pessimistic voice in my head spoke up for the first time saying,
1:32.0	tomorrow's weather is going to suck.
1:34.1	Go on a hike now. I was so surprised by this unfamiliar and commanding voice
1:39.4	I didn't even unpack the car. I just put on my hiking shoes and climbed the nearest mountain.
1:45.0	What motivated me was not the nice weather. It was the pessimistic belief that the next day was
1:50.5	going to be miserable. I thought to myself not only could this be your last chance to hike for a long time,
1:56.6	but there's a good chance you're going to get sick soon with all these temperature changes and
2:00.8	everyone else has the flu, COVID or both.
2:03.4	So go on a hike now because who knows when you will feel this good again.
2:07.6	What a dark depressing yet wonderful mantra that is.
2:11.1	Who knows when you'll feel this good again.
	...

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