My vent on the new Vent app: my ranting pessimism finds a home

Finally, an app for me.

Grrrrrr I am so annoyed at the moment. I blog a lot about being annoyed.

• Here’s what happens when I have a meltdown
• Here’s how I am a rude customer
• Here’s how I hate people who are posting about happiness
• Here’s me being annoyed at my arsehole ex-boyfriend

There are not too many places to go when you are feeling disgruntled. The Poor Boyf has to put up with my rants quite a bit and I have been told that women complain too much, which annoys me further, quite frankly.

Luckily for me, there is a new app I am going to try out. It’s called VENT.

The new Vent app lets you vent to an anonymous community

The idea is that you can post your vent to the feed (a bit like Twitter, sadly, because I hate the look and feel of Twitter) and you can follow other people and read their vents.

I posted my first Vent a few seconds ago and I already have one follower. Hooray!

However – I am almost ready to VENT again as the stupid app is a bit slow to load and (naturally) seems less user-friendly than Facebook or Twitter. Grrrrrrrrrr. Why do I have to go into someone’s profile to follow them? Grrrrrr.

So – what the hell is so wrong with me?

It seems like I am perpetually annoyed with the world and I am not having a good time, despite my life being wonderful at the moment, I cannot enjoy my life. The Boyf says I am a pessimist and I have to admit that he is correct. I am feeling very pessimistic at the moment and quite hopeless, to be frank.

And what’s wrong with that?

Pessimists live longer than optimists

There are multiple studies that show that pessimists actually have a better grip on reality than optimists and may better plan for their future health and retirement.

The American Psychological Association says, “Older people who have low expectations for a satisfying future may be more likely to live longer, healthier lives than those who see brighter days ahead.”

“Because a darker outlook on the future is often more realistic, older adults’ predictions of their future satisfaction may be more accurate.” So there, glass-half-fullers!

Can pessimism be a powerful tool?

I also found this great post on the power of pessimism by Lindsay Abrams. She says that she is an optimist, but believes there is some benefit in planning for the worst.

“(I) would never argue against the importance of being able to move on and thrive after negative life events,” Abrams says, “but for the sake of balance it’s worth taking one thing into consideration: While these open-minded individuals are looking ever-forward toward the horizon, that might mean failing to see — and thus failing to prepare for — the possibility of stumbling blocks still to come.”

Too true. She illustrates her point by talking about a series tornado in Iowa. Some residents refused to consider the possibility that trouble could happen again. They were optimistic and didn’t take adequate shelter – some died.

Why am I so pessimistic? Am I just a dickhead?

I guess you could say I am a pessimist because I have had the shit kicked out of me emotionally for quite some time now. This is nothing to do with my current, loving relationship, but I carry scars that are deep, from many past disappointments. I guess you could say that this is not unique to me. At my age (35) I have a whole grab-bag of disappointments and crushing tales of reality.

If you’re my age (or older) I’m sure you have had your fair share of heartache too.

I’ve lost jobs, lost boyfriends, lots money. Lost friends, lots people I love. I have had many unfair things that have happened to me and I feel the weight of the world, weighing heavily on my shoulders.

I can find next to no joy in life anymore. But that’s OK – life is not dependant on happiness – it simply isn’t.

It’s OK to be miserable, no really, it is.

You can be miserable and alive. You can be in pain but spiritualty growing. You can be disappointed and it can be the best thing for you.

So why pretend to be happy when you’re not?

There is value in sadness. There is value in pain. There is value in disappointment and destruction. And that’s where I am today.

Do you think it’s OK to be a pessimist? How are you feeling today? Please tell me.