I find that I have some sort of oppositional obstinacy that makes it so that if there is a chorus of people accentuating the positive, I cannot eliminate the negative. I immediately pipe up with “But have you considered ____?” [Fill in this blank with some dire, rare possibility.]
This does not make me popular at work, but recently I discovered that when people are negative at work, I can’t help myself from being Rebecca of Sunnybrook, Inc., supporting the company line and saying all will be well.
This doesn’t just happen at work. At home, there’s no way for me to escape the news that I’m classified as having Secondary-Progressive MS (whispered in most circles as “you know, the bad kind”) and yet somehow that negative news just cheers me right up. As always, I think, “Sure, you say I have a fatal disease, but have you considered _____? [Fill in this blank with some convoluted logic about how future dire results are best predicted by past excellent performance.]
Evidently I’m not the only person in my family with this quality. My brother just spent a night in the hospital with liver failure, and it has cheered him right up. In fact, he’s very optimistic about his prospects. Of course I’m not saying anything to him, but I can’t find a way this is a good thing. Then again, how much of that is just my oppositional nature?
7 responses to “Obstinate”
I would say that if one has been feeling like death, it is sometimes reassuring to know *why* even if it is not a reason that makes for optimism? But that’s about all I got.
KC – oh it’s awful to feel like death and not know why. Knowing why makes a lot of difference. And Dave is happy to be alive after that episode.
I’m so glad he’s happy to be alive! That makes a lot of difference. 🙂
KC – It was good for a while. He’s not as happy now.
Sorry to hear that. 🙁
KC – he has a surgery coming up in three weeks. That might fix everything.
I hope it helps enormously!