Greater Optimism; Deeper Pessimism

As I sit here at my workdesk, I'm pretty much overwhelmed: too many thoughts to isolate and develop into complete ideas. I feel like I've had two Vaults and a chocolate bar. Okay, I did have the chocolate bar...

They say it's supposed to rain, maybe even storm today. So what else is new: that's my everyday life. I'm not a pessimist; I've got an umbrella, I'm prepared. Preparation can actually bring positive results from negative situations--- so nah, don't call me a pessimist at all. 'Matter of fact, sometimes I'd rather the worst, just so I don't hafta spend my sweet dreams in prepartion for a rude awakening. "It's the suspense that gets me", as the coined phrase once went.

A homie of mine is thinkin' about getting married. You know me: I love love, so I'm all for it. But what I like about my homie is this: he's not fooled into thinking it's gonna be all peaches and cream and hugs and kisses and even-Steven. What we talked about most over the phone was how much he'd be willing to love this woman when she's: 1) reflecting on old relationships; 2) when she's making crapshot decisions; 3) when it's that time of the month; 4) when she wants to argue just to see how much he'll put up with and how deeply he loves her; 5) when her family interferes. That's not pessimism folks, that's preparation; because these things happen, and you're a TVLand fool to act like they don't.

What a pessimist doesn't realize is that preparation for the worst creates an advantage that creates opportunity for the best outcome. Some people are pessimists and they don't even know it. Do you claw and scrape to squeeze everything you can out of your good times in anticipation of bad times? That's pessimism; you've already decided that the bad times are going to conquer you and prevent your progression. I don't believe in undefeatable foes or circumstances; when a challenge arises, I'm not cowering in fear and battening down the hatches, but examining the opposition for its inevitable weakness. Because, short of God Himself, every one and every thing has a weakness. There are those who pack-up, and those who pack heat; both may survive, but only one attains.

I just realized that this is the true essence of optimism; it's not merely expecting the best, but believing in the potential to bring the best from the worst. It's not the naive arrogance of a man sitting on the beachfront before the hurricane hits, but the practical faith of a man preparing a boat so that he can ride the waters. See the difference?

Preparation isn't the mark of pessimism; a real pessimist surrenders to enemy slavery before the battle begins to extend his own life. A prepared man recognizes that he's outnumbered, then burns the bridge that enters into the city before the enemy arrives. Because his goal is to save his people, not to engage the enemy.

Sometimes preparation means sacrificing opportunity. The rope-a-dope is a perfect example: why take a few hits when you can battle the entire round? Well, when you recognize the greater strength and stamina of your opponent and that your fatigue will cost you the match, that's pessimism to opt to force a footrace. Instead, you prepare the sacrifice of the cards and the early rounds to gain the advantage: your freshness and awareness of your opponent late in the fight against his fatigue and cluelessness. Now you have shot to do what you came to do, which is win the match.

Unless you're just satisfied with a great fight, that's cool too...

It's hard to find the line between respecting opponents and situations or admitting premature defeat. But here's a surefire way to tell if you're being a pessimist or preparing:

1. Define the ultimate goal. If your method of choice does not attempt to achieve this goal but settles for a lesser goal, then you're being a pessimist. If your method is attempting to conquer circumstances to obtain the ultimate goal, then you're preparing.

2. Probability is an excuse for those who don't win. When we come up short, we use stats and probability to assert that we had no chance or that it's okay to fall short. If that's the case, then whenever a challenge arises you should calculate the probability. And if you don't like the odds, then forfeit immediately. The funny thing is, we only remember those who beat the odds; with that mentality, those people never would've tried in the first place.

3. Preparation or pessimism is not determined by the final outcome; either way will not guarantee victory or defeat. Both states are completely mental; your mindset determines if you're preparing or being pessimistic. And again, it comes down to the mere question of striving for the ultimate goal or settling for less to determine if you're in preparation or pessimism.

This entire inscription was sparked last night over a debate over a basketball game. The Cavs, my team of choice (I'm actually a Detroit fan, but LBJ impressed me) is down 2 games to 0. My homie makes a big deal of this, but I studied the Cavs players in both games--- and not just their gameplay, but them as individuals. There was no sweat, no urgency, no panic, no frustration from the Cavs players, or even the staff and coach... which leads me to believe they're losing with purpose. (I say 'with' purpose, because no one loses 'on' purpose; 'with' purpose meaning winning is second priority and the first priority is worth losing for) In the fourth quarter of the last game, the Cavs activated and played like a whole different team, cutting a near-30 point deficit by 17 in a matter of about 5 minutes; if it was from desperation, I deduce it would've happened at least after the halftime break. And even after they proceeded to lose, the same composure and poise was there; even the emotional leader didn't so as much as shake his head.

My contention is that they've adopted a rope-a-dope strategy against the champs: let the champs reveal their weapons, sacrifice two games not to win but to practice playing against the 'playoffs Spurs', then take what is learned and put it into action to take back the series. You get to the playoffs by winning games; you win the playoffs by beating teams. This is a long-term strategy for a Cavs team that knows that defeating a high-caliber, championship-repeating, well-congealed, multi-faceted opponent at their worst (Game 1) affords nothing, as they will only play at their worst for one game and at their best for the remaining six.

(Pardon the interruption, but actually, this is the same reason I prefer to beat people in 'best of 10' series in fighting games! Because, at the end of a stretch, there's usually no question as to who's better. I can use a couple rounds to figure my opponent out--- heck, they can even do the same if they're smart enough!--- and take the rest of the fight to exploit their weaknesses. To date, I've only lost one such series to somebody who was honestly better than me; the rest have ceased to try >B-D)

'Sad thing is, as I said before, winning and losing is not proof of preparation or pessimism. Both are completely mental, which is why this pointless debate could've gone on forever should I have opted to continue it. And what's sadder is, even in ending it, it continues to plague and distract me. So, I decided to resort to writing to make a bad thing even worse... The key word is 'make': any way you slice it, that's a form of control.

Beware of deliberation, and especially deliberation in delay; it's so serious, but so Yu-Gi-Oh elementary.

Booooo Theory; HOORAAAY CLEVELAND!! B-J