Treasure Or Junk? – Are You A Pack Rat?

I come from a long line of savers. My grandmother owned a three-bedroom house that was so full of stuff that you could only navigate the main rooms through a narrow path. As for the bedrooms, all that was possible was to crack the doors open and peek inside.

Now I have vowed to never be that bad, but there are some things that I do keep "just because". I hang onto 20-year-old college textbooks from my favorite subjects. I also own clothes that I know I will never wear again.  They stay tucked away in a box in the back of my closet because I had so much fun when I wore them!

What are your treasures?

Personality – Optimist Or Pessimist

Do you consider yourself to be an optimist or a pessimist? Well, let's amend that just a bit. Most pessimists prefer to call themselves realists--and that is true. Studies have been done that indicate that people who claim to be optimists will remember events that happened in the past in a way that favors themselves and drift a bit away from the truth. Pessimists, on the other hand, remember the events more accurately, but do tend to focus on the things that they did wrong.

So which is better? Optimists tend to have higher self-esteem which is crucial to success. Pessimists tend to be more cautious which can keep them out of trouble.

Here is a good rule of thumb: Practice optimism except for those times when the stakes are high. That means that if the possible consequences of an action could result in injury or extreme personal loss, you would be better off thinking that the worst could happen and stay cautious. In situations that would result merely in mild discomfort or embarrassment-go for it. Remember from above that optimists never really remember the negative things anyway!

Are you a defensive pessimist? Take this quiz to find out.

Test Optimist - Positive-Club