Am I just naturally a positive person or did I learn to be that way from my environment? Are cynical people BORN cynical or MADE to be that way? According to University of California-Irvine personality researcher Salvatore Maddi, people develop a cynical view from their environment and experiences although most psychologists can agree that cynicism is at least part of the genes. In an article published by Psychology Today, Maddi describes how one becomes cynical by putting in a lot of hard work to reach a specific goal and it is subverted therefore, not achieved. Their blind hope was dashed and the stage is now set for them to be very skeptical in the future. This may cause them to not go after a new goal because they now expect the worst. How do we balance those disappointments and learn from them rather than assume that every situation in the future will be exactly the same? You need people in your life that helps you see the different between horrible coincidence and things you may have done to cause the negative outcome of your goal. You need someone who is going to show you the lessons to learn. Maybe that’s why there are people like me in this world! I feel so sad for cynical people and I’m always trying to stabilize them and bring them a little closer to the light in life. As I always say, you have to give people the space to feel disappointment and anger but then it’s time to pull them out of the darkness. Help them see the reason that it happened and go forward smarter and better. As my mom always told me, pull yourself up by the bootstraps. Is she the reason I’m such a positive person? God knows I had my share of failures and setbacks but I kept getting back up and trying. Thank God I kept a positive attitude because that keeps you open to opportunities that you may have missed with a cynical attitude. Not to say cynical people aren’t successful but they must have a good balance to achieve that success. If you’re a cynical person, please tell me how you kept that balance in your life and how you maintain your happiness! I think you could teach some of these other cynics a thing or two!

Psychology Today article website: http://www.psychologytoday.com/articles/200612/field-guide-the-cynic