It's All Up To You.

When you look at a situation you always decide if it is negative or positive. When you are not sure, it is up to you the way you want to look at it. Some people are optimist others pessimists, and some say they are realist (which I find irrelevant). The way you decide to view at the situation depends only on you and your personality.

When people are always pessimists in the end its worse for them, because even the things that are possible they see them as impossible, so if they don’t help themselves first you will? When people are very optimistic it can get annoying and unintelligent because they believe anything can be done even when you know that the worst is ahead. Those people that at funerals say that you have to look at the bright side and think the person that has died is going to be with god. That can bother some people, especially me. I do not see the realist category as a real one because realists are positive people that have good judgment and know when something is possible or not.

Falling into extremes is bad that’s why Epictetus handbook says that “make yourself appear so to yourself, and you will be capable of it.” ( Section 23). The way Epictetus wants us to view this is that based on our judgment and the situation we decide how we look at it. It does not depend on weather you are negative or positive it depends on how much you want the situation to happen (or goal to be achieved). Rationality and emotion both play an important role with this, because in order to make the right choice you have to think real but in order to actually achieve it you have to want it.

Nobody is capable of making the perfect decision. Emotion may have a stronger effect one time or vice versa. That is human nature, something that is bound to happen, in some cases if things turn right you may feel as if the decision was perfect, to that I say it was luck or just maybe not a tough decision. The important thing is you make yourself believe you can do it in order to accomplish, never forgetting to be realistic.