Terry Lee Murphy

"Most know what a pessimist is. The angry person who yells at you to get out of their yard. People who complain about everyone and everything all the time. Everyone is stupid, except those who ask their opinion. Well, they are stupid too. They just get points for good behavior. They fear looking at the bright side and see those that do as only fooling themselves. When trouble comes, they will be ready. No one is going to catch them off guard. For their information, “trouble always comes for the pessimist!” Then there is the optimist. They always see the brighter side of life. Even in failure or setbacks, they view it as a tiny part of life and are quick to move on. We would do well to surround ourselves with optimistic people. Not only do they seem to have a force field for pessimism, they are usually full of praise, kindness, reassurance, encouragement, and maybe a friendly hug. I like those people. That brings us to a strange phenomenon that came about in the last half of the twenty-first century. There are those that have combined pessimism and optimism, giving rise to “The Pessoptimist.” It is the unfiltered thought and transparent conflict in the minds of today’s well-intentioned common human. A condition where one’s afflicted with seeing the worst while trying to do what seems right. We can call it discouraged encouragement. One who does good and cautions everyone about the potential dangers of it."

"We wouldn’t define Pessoptimism as a word that can go more toward selfishness. We would call those people Optessimist. Defined as, “someone who does something wrong or harmful to others, making it sound like they did the right thing. Claiming value for themselves at the expense of others.” Unlike the Pessoptimist, they are fully aware of their intent and actions."

"Those who are confident and at peace with themselves are content. Taking it further and in spirit, someone who is serene. Serenity is a pleasant-sounding word. It is the state of calm, untroubled by life’s difficulties. Then there is Serendipity. Defined as “Occurrences of fortunate events that happen by chance.” Some associate it with luck. Even though, as a word, one is not a derivative of the other, the characteristics creating them would be similar. Anyone who experiences contentment, calm or good fortune doesn’t have to think very hard to know the reasons for it. Usually, a result of their general nature, intentions, and actions. To be discontent, one would be uncomfortable. Possibly unfamiliar with the cause-and-effect equation of life. Likely, their intent or inaction in important areas of life has brought misfortune to them. In Newton’s Third Law of Physics, “Every action has an equal and opposite reaction.” Discondipity would then be “Occurrences of unforeseen misfortune.” Sometimes isolated and undeserved. After all, we can all have a stretch of bad luck. Often leaving one to question, “Why do these things happen to them?”"