Is the glass half-full or half-empty? How would you answer this age-old question?
The “glass” idiom divides all people into two categories. Basically, there are two ways to live your life: be an optimist and see the glass half-full or be a pessimist and see it half-empty.
Which of the two are you?
What Does It Mean to Be a Glass-Half-Empty Type of Person? The Definition
Being a glass-half-empty type of person means that you are a pessimistic individual who tends to focus on the negatives in any given situation. You often overlook the ‘bright side of life’ and pay more attention to problems, concerns, and uncertainties.
Does this describe your attitude to life? Check out the signs below to know for sure.
Are You a Glass-Half-Empty Type of Person? 10 Signs
1. You worry a lot
Pessimistic people worry more than optimistic ones. That’s because you pay a lot of attention to potential hazards and adversities when you see the glass half-empty. Even if everything is fine, you may still think about the things that could possibly go wrong.
As a glass-half-empty type of person, you are prone to all kinds of fears and anxieties. That’s a direct consequence of your tendency to see life in a negative light.
You may be afraid to lose your job or fear that something bad will happen to your family. Whatever it is, you worry a lot, even when there is no reason to.
2 You dwell on problems
Pessimistic people find it difficult to let go of negative thoughts.
When something bad happens in your life, you can’t stop thinking about it. You feel like everything is falling into pieces and you are losing control. Instead of looking for the solution, you may begin to blame yourself or others, have regrets, and worry.
Sometimes this makes you dwell even on the most insignificant problems, such as a broken cooker in your kitchen or a project where you are required to work with a colleague you don’t like. You may get absorbed in thinking and worrying about this issue as if everything else ceases to exist.
3. You see things worse than they are
When worrying and thinking about their problems, a pessimistic person may sometimes come up with the most catastrophic scenarios in their head. This is called catastrophizing, and it’s a cognitive distortion that clouds your judgement.
You suddenly imagine your problem to grow into something bigger and more severe, have harsh consequences, and eventually ruin your life. That’s when you get stuck in the never-ending cycle of negative thoughts and worries.
When your glass is half-empty, you inevitably fall victim to thinking traps that make you see the situation worse than it is. Catastrophizing is just one of those traps.
4. You focus on the negative aspects of everything
The definition of a glass-half-empty type of person is someone who sees the negative in everything. So, if you are such a person, you often find yourself feeling under the weather. Sometimes you may get bitter and annoyed at the slightest discomfort.
When it snows, you don’t notice the pure beauty of winter – instead, you complain about the cold. When it’s too crowded in a restaurant, you forget about the great food and get irritated with the noise.
Your tendency to focus on the negatives inevitably affects your perception, too. You are more likely to spot flaws than positive qualities in those around you. Similarly, you easily notice imperfections in the surrounding environment. Sometimes it seems like your brain is wired to spot every single negative detail around you.
5. You are a chronic complainer
If you are a pessimistic person whose glass is always half-empty, you complain a lot and always find something to be unhappy about. Most of your conversations revolve around negative things – problems, disagreements, and concerns.
You often draw quite a gloomy picture when talking about life or the world in general. You also have barely anything good to say about other people. Thus, most of the time, you complain about your work or family, the weather, and life itself.
This negativity shows up when other people share their news or aspirations with you, too.
When your friends or children tell you about their plans, your first reaction is to point out the flaws in their ideas. You tell them their plan is not going to work out and their dreams are too unrealistic to come into reality.
This reaction has nothing to do with what other people say and everything to do with your own attitude to life. A glass-half-empty type of person just can’t stop projecting their negativity onto others.
6. You don’t expect anything good from life
When your glass is always half-empty, you tend to believe that life is hard and unfair, so there is nothing good to expect from it.
Of course, life is not just rainbows and butterflies, and hardships are unavoidable. However, as a pessimist, you are among those who neglect the beauty of life. You focus more on adversities and challenges and forget about all the nice things that exist.
When you think about the world in general, you imagine it to be a pretty dangerous and unfriendly place. You keep in mind crime statistics and worrisome news and tend to be highly cautious.
In the eyes of negative people, the world (and life itself) is full of dangers, so who knows what could happen.
7. You struggle to see the good in people
In a similar way, you find it difficult to believe that there is still good in people. With so many toxic, fake, and manipulative personalities around, you forget that kind and honest people exist, too.
Bad guys are everywhere–be it a movie about a psychopath or a news report talking about a recent act of violence in your area.
Maybe this belief is paired with a dose of personal experiences, too. You could have been hurt or betrayed in the past, so you end up believing that there is nothing good to expect from other people.
8. You are cautious about trying new things and meeting new people
Since you don’t trust other people and expect the worst from everyone, you hesitate to open your heart to someone new. You don’t want to risk being exploited or hurt.
Therefore, you find it safer and more comfortable to be alone. You build walls around your quiet life to make sure you don’t let anyone in.
Similarly, you are very cautious about trying new things when you are a negative person. The world is so unsafe and life is so unpredictable that you don’t want to take the slightest risk and expose yourself to dangers. You prefer to fill your time with familiar activities and people.
9. You find it difficult to be grateful
Since a glass-half-empty type of person focuses on the negatives, it makes sense that they also take for granted all the nice things they have in life. At the smallest adversity, you feel like your world is falling apart and you are having a hard time.
This is when you completely forget about all those things and people that make you happy. You find it difficult to be grateful and appreciate what you have. You focus on the ugly side of life and overlook all those blessings it has given you.
In reality, many people are living much harder lives and they could only dream about having what you have. Yet, your chronic pessimism doesn’t allow you to see this simple truth.
10. You have low motivation and no desire to move forward
You tend to believe that no matter how hard you work, you won’t succeed anyway. It’s just too difficult.
Maybe you are convinced that you don’t have the skills or personal qualities to achieve something substantial. Or that you were born into the wrong family, and without useful connections and your parents’ financial support, it’s impossible to succeed.
So chasing your dreams and trying to bring a positive change into your life is pointless. With a negative attitude like this, it makes sense that you have low motivation. What’s the point in trying if you don’t believe in yourself anyway?
In a few words, being a glass-half-empty type of person means sabotaging your own happiness. But the good news is that you can always change your attitude towards life.
Start with practicing gratitude and reminding yourself of all the things and people that make you happy. You may soon see truly remarkable results!
Featured image by Freepik
