Pessimistic or Analytical?

I keep thinking lately I might be seen quite differently than I perceive myself. I consider myself an optimist. In general, that is. Since some time in my early 20's when I really sensed ovewhelmingly that things would always work out well for me... I used to joke around that I had my own private angels in heaven watching over me. Any time I'd get into any kind of freaky situation, financial or otherwise, right at the last second something will happen to fix everything and I live happily ever after.

When it comes to my work, on the other hand, I think I might be seen as more pessimistic than I am. A co-worker and I were discussing this just yesterday and we both seem to suffer from the same thing:

In any situation I tend to immediately see how something can be improved - be it and idea, a thing or a process, a program, a design or copy or what have you - and don't stop to celebrate everything that's right about.

Maybe it's just a bad habit, or maybe it's just the way I'm wired, but either way, I think I sometimes bring people down. It's not inherantly a bad trait I don't think; rather, I think it comes from my analytical mind. See, I'm a problem solver. I love improving things, making things more efficient, more effective, easier, quicker, better... and in order to do that, I need to look at how things could be better.

I think I really need to stop and verbalize all the ways something is great rather than skipping right over that part and diving in to improvements. It might improve the way others perceive me.

Photo: pusgums on flickr