Believing that this is the best of all possible worlds is an overly optimistic Pollyanna attitude, but believing that things usually turn out bad is paranoid and just as naive. Both the paranoid and the Pollyanna arc preoccupied with what is going on outside them-selves. Focusing on what others do and how things turn out divert attention from unacceptable aspects of their own inner lives.
Paranoids attribute to others characteristics they can’t accept in themselves. Pollyannas demand a caring, protective world, implying they deserve a life in which everything always works out for the best. Each extreme is an oversimplified view of life’s ambiguities. One view is too bad to be real and the other is too good to be true. And both are ways to rationalize your way out of taking care of yourself.
Making the best of what we’ve got is the best choice we can make.