Today I write to Pessimists
Like me.
You already know what pessimism is — a tendency to see the worst aspect of things or believe that the worst will happen.
As a pessimist, one of the questions you dread the most is “where do you see yourself in the next 5 years?” — because honestly, you don’t like to think about it. Any attempt to create a vision of your future comes with so many bad scenarios. Your parents may be dead. What if you loose your job? Your relationship may hit the rocks. Your spouse may be dead. What if you fall ill? What if you haven’t found love? You may never have a child after marriage. Your building may collapse. On and on.
As a pessimist, it’s hard to relate when people share boldly and happily, how fantastic their next year would be. You read “2024 is going to be my best year ever!”, and your heart sinks, cos you would have loved to say the same, but what if it is the year one or both of your parents dies? What if your business plummets? What if you’re unable to relocate? What if you freeze to death?
In all my life, I’ve never been able to see or envision life beyond my nose. Like a child afraid of the dark, I’ve always been scared to dream past a few quarters each year or at most one year, because each time I tried to, I could see all the things that may/will go wrong, and I immediately shut down my thoughts.
But I’ve also seen how living with constant fear of the unknown can stifle you, and make you unable to enjoy your present. It’s also a direct indication of our inability to see who God is, for ourselves. We’re belittling God by so-doing, and the power of His ways when we can’t think good thoughts concerning our lives.
Yet, it’s easier said than done. The fight against pessimism isn’t a one-off battle. It’s a constant toggle, and we have to ALWAYS let God win, by keeping ourselves grounded. By doing it afraid. And this is what I’ve been trying to do over the years.
Somedays ago, for the first time in my life, I envisioned myself five years from now, and wrote it down.
Habakkuk 2:2–3
Write the vision; make it plain on tablets, so he may run who reads it. For still the vision awaits its appointed time; it hastens to the end — it will not lie. If it seems slow, wait for it; it will surely come; it will not delay.
While writing them, pessimism sprung up, the what-if’s appeared in their numbers, but I kept writing, allowing God to guide me through optimism and faith, believing that God is capable of bringing to past all He has promised.
And this brings me to my first word for you — Guide your thoughts and learn to shut down bad thoughts. This is where the biggest battle lies for pessimists. Our thoughts is always a weapon fashioned against us, it doesn’t seem to ever think of good things happening to us, always conjuring a thousand and one ways things could go wrong. Do you know that before my wedding, I was once afraid of my husband-to-be dying on his way back to Nigeria? Such an evil thought! But it was there, and I prayed and dismissed it. I shunned the devil, and I never thought about it again. This is real folks, and crazy too!
The moment an evil and scary thought comes to your mind, shun it immediately, pray and rebuke it, and focus on something else immediately. Don’t dwell on it for a second.
Also, protect your space. Be mindful of the kind of news and information you allow into your mind. Just the way we eat to nourish our body, the things you read, listen to and see have a way of coming back to you as ‘thoughts’. If you consistently feed on negative news, you’ll regurgitate them. Surround yourself with goodness, even if you have to intentionally curate your feeds, and timelines. There’s a reason my favorite part of NSPPD is the testimony time. It’s because listening to those testimonies makes me less apprehensive of the future, and solidifies my faith in the God of miracles and strange happenings.
Secondly, practice positive confessions. I started daily positive confessions and prayer since 2021, and it has been very helpful. Speak positive words into your life everyday — even when it doesn’t make sense, when you don’t feel like it, when you don’t believe it. Confess that it is well with you. Speak greatness into your life and into your career. You’ll confess it to the point where you’ll start believing it, I assure you.
Also, journal. I’m an introvert, and I keep to myself a lot. So whenever worry encapsulates me like a blanket, and the dread for the future comes at me, I pick up my journal and write, sometimes to God, and other times to myself.
Thirdly, make gratitude a daily part of living. Look back and always connect the dots in gratitude. This works like magic for me, and have increased my optimism significantly. Be grateful always. Count your blessings ALL THE TIME. Don’t say “Oh! But this is in the past, my worry is about the future”. Thank God regardless, because doing so and always reflecting on God’s grace on your life, will strengthen you and give you hope for a brighter and blissful future. Is the God that brought you this far not capable of taking you to even more glorious heights?
Because this is getting too long, I’ll wrap up with this last point — Have faith in God. Do you know that pessimism is an indirect downplay of God’s strength? A way of subtly saying “God, you brought me this far, but I think you don’t have what it takes to steer my life to a great destination”?
In Jeremiah 29:11 (MSG), God says,
“I know what I’m doing. I have it all planned out — plans to take care of you, not abandon you, plans to give you the future you hope for.”
Can you imagine that? The creator of the universe having plans for you and I? Saying “I am with you always, and I’ll make sure your future is super beautiful”. It’s a huge flex, just like sitting on a gold mine. But you just haven’t realized this yet. Relax, and trust God always.
Never let negative thoughts win the battle for your mind. You’re capable of thinking good thoughts, capable of having a beautiful future, and so much more. Your fears will not happen.
Now that you’ve read this far, I have one assignment for you though, I hope you don’t mind. Grab a pen and a paper (or a note in your phone preferably), and write a letter to your future self. Write about where you envisage yourself to be in 5 years time — In career, in your relationship, in your spiritual life, your children, everything. Don’t play it small, don’t micromanage with God. Go big, go global. Assume that it were a blank script presented to you by God, and write it all out and BELIEVE it.
If you want to take this a notch higher, send this letter to your future self through https://futureme.org/letters/. They’ll send this letter back to you in 2028.
YOUR 2028 SELF WILL BE PROUD OF YOU!
