Comments on: How You Can Defeat Cynicism and Become a Positive Thinker

By: suresh

suresh — Fri, 11 Mar 2011 18:03:36 +0000

I am in a similar mindset as Millo .Everything he says about himself matches with my life .Except that I do not consider myself as a bad person . Mostly I feel I am being taken advantage of by relatives including close ones without any understanding about the state of my mind .Although the steps outlined are encouraging , I am not sure I agree that most times my cynicism is illigical . I consider mysely logical and I do believe that there are genuine reasons for my cynicism.
Should I consult a psychiatrist ?

rgds

By: What’s With This Positivity Thinking? |

What’s With This Positivity Thinking? | — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 18:48:14 +0000

[...] resist cynicism and learn to appreciate and praise others, always embracing an open trusting [...]

By: Mel

Mel — Mon, 11 Oct 2010 18:46:17 +0000

Great topic.

I was an idealist when I was younger. I was optimistic; some thought I was silly or flaky. I was not flaky, but chose to see the good in things. After awhile, I was hurt by people thinking I was not bright because I was ‘wide eyed’ optimist. I would help people out when they needed something. People took advantage of my kindness.

Now, I simply don’t like people. I’m sarcastic, cynical, unhappy. At times, I wish I WAS more flaky and didn’t KNOW that people suck.

I am unhappy because I let others make me feel bad. I no longer help people. I would like to try these steps to see if I can reduce some of my cynicism and regain the traits I had when I was a happier person.

Thanks.

By: millo

millo — Sat, 18 Sep 2010 18:59:36 +0000

i am a very cynical person. I guess it started in childhood because of my fears and inconfidence and insecurities. i wasnt worried before of being cynical. but recently it has started bothering me as i realised that i was so cynical. it hurts my self image and self esteem and confidence thinking that im such a negative thinker and a bad person. I realise thats why i cannot make friends.
i have been trying to overcome this ugly habit but in vain. thanks for the info

By: M.

M. — Sat, 14 Aug 2010 09:00:01 +0000

I am cynical because life made me become one.Now that I ponder on it, I believe it’s my defense mechanism.When my mum died, I swore to myself I would never allow anything to hurt me again that hard. But I slowly see life is about ups and downs , and that with such attitude I lost many friends and great opportunities. I will try to apply this article in my life, thank you TDM.

By: The Daily Minder

The Daily Minder — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 07:44:52 +0000

Excellent point Austin. Thanks for pointing that out.

By: Austin

Austin — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 05:38:47 +0000

I am most definitely a cynic. I really enjoyed this article; thank you for posting it. It gave me a lot of good perspective and insight to ponder on. One thing that I did not agree with, however, was when you referred to generalizing people from the middle east as terrorists.. I would not call that cynicism, that is racism. Those two terms should not be associated with one another. In fact, racism is a main source of my cynicism toward people. With that being said, I will reiterate, great article.

-Austin

By: Said Ebbini

Said Ebbini — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 16:50:17 +0000

From a true cynic. Why am I a cynic? Because I read history books! The history books of the future won’t change their content, just the names.

By: Dealing With Your Cynical Self — Persuasive Communication and Life Skills

Dealing With Your Cynical Self — Persuasive Communication and Life Skills — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 17:01:24 +0000

[...] few days ago, I found an interesting article on the internets. It’s titled ’How You Can Defeat Cynicism And Become A Positive Thinker’. The title of the article offers two assumptions. First, that you want to [...]

By: Dr. K

Dr. K — Sat, 21 Mar 2009 18:19:40 +0000

Cynicism is not an inherently bad trait, nor is it necessarily a sign of negative thinking. The key is to contextualize it. There are times and places where distrusting the motives of others can serve one well. Three examples come to mind: 1) Online, children should be a bit cynical of the offers of friendship from total strangers. 2) Get rich quick schemes, which almost always turn out badly. 3) People claiming to know more about you and your life’s purpose than you know about yourself (religious and cult leaders, etc.)

It’s the generalized cynicism that causes health problem and social isolation. Looking down on everyone around you is a sorry state for anyone. But then, any attitude that is overgeneralized, including positive thinking and seeing only the good in people, can cause all kinds of problems.

Context is key. Identify the where and when for a behavior and use it there and then. Have a choice in behaviors and attitudes and a bit of flexibility, you can adapt to circumstances based on new information. Have only one choice or attitude, that kind of inflexibility can only lead to you backing yourself into a corner.

be well,
Rick