According to the Grammarist, rose-coloured
glasses describes a disposition that is upbeat, hopeful, with optimism
and positive thinking overflowing. Positive psychology is dedicated to
studying the optimist and optimism, and how that type of personality and
philosophy can lead a person to have increased confidence and an improvement in
attitude and happiness amongst other things. Dr Martin Seligman and other
psychology researchers have discovered that those who do not dwell on
negativity and pessimism tend to succeed more.
A cynic may reject this idea, believing that to look at life through rose-coloured glasses creates unrealistic expectations and may indicate that you only notice the good things. Having a tendency to forget the negative things that happened in the past and by focusing mainly on the positive attributes, you view the past nostalgically. Cynics believe this view is unrealistic.
Having a glass half
full outlook or looking on the bright side is typically my approach to work and my life in general, and
I believe I’m quite optimistic. However, I have had my rose-coloured glasses
shattered a few times and you may be surprised to learn that I think this is a good
thing. Glass shatters is that moment of realisation that changes
your perception of something or someone. You've developed a new
awareness; one that can't be unseen. I've included a clip from How I
Met Your Mother to explain further.
While this moment may cause some disappointment in either a person, organisation or event, reflection is vital. Shattering the
rose-coloured glasses can help close chapters, build resilience and provide
space for new perspectives, commitments and opportunities. The cynics in my life will
at times, advise and question my naivety. While I don’t think I will ever be that
cynic or pessimist, I do agree that on some occasions, I need to be more
realistic.
@stringer_andrea
I think that the hardest thing to do at times is to own our experiences, because it is how we got to now. This includes the moments of shattered glass. It just feels like that is sometimes easier than others. You might be interested in a recent episode of Future Tense, which dives into our tendency for pessimism.
ReplyDeleteAlso on https://collect.readwriterespond.com/rose-coloured-glasses/
Thanks Aaron- so appreciate how you always read & respond. Thank you my friend.
DeleteMy ex-hubby shattered my glasses quite often. Such a learning experience!! Thanks for sharing, Andrea - I was nodding the entire time I was reading!
ReplyDeleteAren't we always learning Joy? Thank you for reading and retweeting. Much appreciated.
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