Are You A Negative Person

I think there is a difference between being a worrier, and a negative person.

We have a negative person in the block where I live, and quite frankly, she has worn her welcome out with people who were sympathetic at first.

I am a worrier but consider myself a very positive person. Like the original poster I've been through a lot and if i wouldn't have been able to always see the light at the end of the tunnel, then I don't know where I'd be now. My husband on the other hand doesn't worry about anything and sleeps at the drop of a hat,but is still a very negative person. We do both sometimes say that we're afraid to be truly happy as something always comes along to knock us down, when we are.

TheodoraP
What examples/reasons were you given for being negative? Can you open a dialogue with the person(s) who think this way?
My apologies if you've already been asked the question.

It rather depends on the circumstances! I don't think anyone is all one thing or the other!

I’m in the progress of reading Learned Optimism by Martin Seligman, a most interesting book all about optimism and pessimism, and easy to read. Would recommend it.

Sometimes. It depends on the circumstances. If I get in a flap I keep expecting disaster with my next move, but on the other hand I am not a worrier and tend to look for the bright side. I tend to take risks too, often with unhelpful outcomes, so maybe it's not so bad to be negative and to have back up plans in place.
I suppose it depends how the negativity expresses itself. I used to manage a team of people and found that those who were constantly negative pulled us down.

I'm pessimist I get told I'm negative all the time but it works for me. If I think the worst and it doesnt happen I'm relieved if it does I'm prepared. I have started to try to only keep it to my own life a d try to be more positive with others.

I’m a negative person…… positivity got me nowhere. So now the less I expect …. the better it is. I am never disappointed now I’ve stopped being positive!

I think I might be. I’m certainly more of a worrier than I ever was before. In fact I find myself worrying about things that happened years ago ?
A current example is my grandson and his girlfriend are on holiday in Egypt and posted a couple of pics of them on FB coming out of the sea after a swim. What did I think of? Shark attacks!
I’ve always been very laid back but the state of the world has knocked my optimism out of the window and these days I find Im living in a constant state of low level depression.

pen50 lots of people would love to be like you.

Theodore if you don't feel you're negative ask the person what they meant

It's fine to be sad if that's how life is for you at a particular time.
It's unhealthy to think otherwise.

I think the weather has an awful lot to do with it too.

I've just read a story about a woman who said that happiness is a state of mind - if you decide to be happy you will be happy . if you decide to be sad then you will be sad.

I think I'm a realist.
I find relentlessly cheerful people quite hard to deal with.

I usually have a smile on my face, even though I've been disabled for 4 years and use a mobility scooter but I refuse to let it depress me.

I am engineer, my glass is neither half full, nor half empty - just twice the size it needs to be!

I’m with grannyactivist.

From the outside people would think I’m a Pollyanna but it’s a lot of internal work to absorb less than ideal circumstances, marshall available resources and move forward toward dealing with them.

I rarely voice my concerns or doubts and I tend to be a cheerleader for others who may think they can’t cope.

I think I maybe a negative person, I am a worrier. I have sleepless night worrying about things that often never happen. I often plan for when or if things go wrong.
I hate going onto new things or to new places.
My husband loves New Years Eve, he says its like the New Year is stretching out like a blank sheet of paper to be filled with exciting new things. I cling to the old year, terrified on what the new year will bring.
I think I need therapy ?

Positive person here. Early in my life I decided to be like the people I preferred to be around. I almost always have a smile on my face, and I always try to be cheerful and helpful. I don't work myself up over other people's idiocies, I just let stuff like that wash over me. Life is much easier that way.

I've had a lot of ups and downs in my time but I make a point of seeing the upside of any change and just get on with it. It's not all innate but practice has made perfect.

Someone once described me as a realistic optimist. Not a bad place to be because I'm rarely disappointed.

My glass is completely empty!

I try to have a positive outlook on life, and believe I suceed. As yet no-one has accused me of being negative.

In your place, Theodora, I would assume that the person who called you negative was either just trying to be nasty, or reacting unfavourably to something you had said or done, that that person had misunderstood.

I hope you don't let it worry you. If you can't just let the remark go, ask what was meant by it. Please don't just assume the remark was justified.

Don’t think it matters what others think of us, yet somehow it does matter.
Being realistic doesn’t equate to being negative.
If we are constantly positive that may be a problem too. Just be yourself weigh up the situation. Positive and negative are labels and not needed or helpful.

I always try not to take anything said to me personally. It is invariably the other person's own issue..

No, always try see positives..of course there's an occasional off day, but not many.Lifes too short to be miserable for long.Thats why i don't come on Gransnet too often really, too many moaning minnies some days, or folk who can't see the better side.?Don't get me wrong, i can have have a good old moan sometimes, but largely i try to make the best of things.☺