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Are you part of the statistic?

I’m what you call “an eternal optimist,” even as I came out of the womb. Basically, I popped out without enough blood in my system, which caused a blue pallor to my entire body. For the doctors, it was either give me an immediate blood transfusion, or get me to the incubator and wait, and see if I was a strong enough child to produce blood on my own.

My doctor took one look at me, then decided to send me to the incubator.

Yet, according to Julie K. Norem, PhD, a professor of psychology at Wellesley College, some 30 to 35 percent of Americans employ a calculated form of negative thinking called defensive pessimism. “Defensive pessimists prepare for a situation by setting low expectations for themselves, then follow up with a very detailed assessment of everything that may go wrong,” she says.

And this, too, can create positive results. How? Apparently a defensive pessimist may use the process to motivate themselves to perform better, according to Lawrence Sanna, PhD, a professor of psychology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

So for all those optimists out there: it’s O.K. to talk yourself down a little bit, if only as the inspiration to push on. And for those that see the glass half-full sometimes, you could be doing the same thing. And that’s O.K., too.What happened to Baby Me? Well, after a few hours in the incubator, I did indeed produce enough blood on my own to sustain my life. And I was blue no more. It’s not even my favorite color.

Apparently my doctor is an eternal optimist, too.

Janet Muniz

(photo credit: Allie’s.Dad)