Bald Eagle - Gandhi said it the way he did because...

pessimism is its own punishment, as is negative thinking. Extreme pessimism is a form of insanity in which only human beings indulge. You won't see animals doing that. It leads nowhere except to misunderstanding, depression, hatred, suicide, murder and death.

Gandhi saw the bright side because that is what you do when you're enlightened. Enlightenment leads people forward to positive accomplishment.

The pessimist thinks of himself as a realist...but we are all absolutely free to make reality what we will at any time. Therefore, the pessimist's reality is the reality he chose. Dumb choice.

The pessimist is someone who would rather be right than be happy. It's an ego defence. He figures he's smarter than the people who aren't as pessimistic as he is. Talk about small comfort. Suppose he is "right", and nothing works out and everybody dies...the people who didn't see it his way still had a better time getting there, didn't they, so who is the dummy?

The character who best sums up this method of dealing with reality is Eeyore, the grouchy and miserable stuffed donkey in the Pooh books. He would definitely rather be right than be happy. Eeyore ain't too enlightened.

The reason that things and situations we call "evil" or "unpleasant" exist is because if they didn't, we would have no way of being conscious of their alternatives...what is "good" and what is "pleasant". We are creatures who perceive by comparison. We have to experience both head and cold before we understand the concept of temperature at all. Then, having understood the concept, we use free will to choose that part of it which seems preferable. That's part of the path to knowledge and enlightenment.

The pessimist likes to focus on the dark side...because it seems romantic, dramatic, and fatalistic...and it makes him feel "cool"...but in the end it does not serve him well.

You don't have to be "religious" or believe in God to see the merit in being a positive thinker.

- LH