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Where would you rank yourself between "very pessimistic" and "very optimis-tic"? Do you know anyone who seems unrealistically optimistic about life, de-spite setbacks, unknowns, and disappointments? People who seem overly idealistic and/or optimistic may be strongly influen-ced personality subselves who specialize in these attitudes. Their roles are usu-ally to protect several Inner Kids from major fear, overwhelm, despair, and loss by preaching rosy forecasts. The Idealist / Optimist also serves to counterbal-ance overactive Cynic / Doubter, Catastrphizer, and/or Worrier subselves. A well-meaning Magician subself may team up with the Idealist / Optimist to make un-attainable ideals seem realistic or feasible. Significantly- wounded people can become obsessed with one or more ideals, to distract from inner pain. If the ideal is a moral "cause," (e.g. abortion, conser-vation, spiritual warfare), the Idealist may evolve into a passionate Fanatic. Be-fore recovery from false-self dominance, all these Guardian subselves distrust the true Self to keep everyone safe and comfortable enough. As recovery progresses (Lesson 1), personality subselves like these learn to trust the wise leadership and reliability of the Self (capital "S") and other Mana-ger subselves, a nurturing Higher Power, and selected healthy people to keep the younger subselves safe and comfortable enough. As the Guardians relax, exces-sive idealism and optimism (or pessimism) shift toward realistic visions and ex-pectations, and inner peace notably increases. |
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