Three cheers to Grumpy Arugula, Esq. who alerted me to this little gem from the BBC News:
Feeling grumpy 'is good for you'
The details:An Australian psychology expert who has been studying emotions has found being grumpy makes us think more clearly.
In contrast to those annoying happy types, miserable people are better at decision-making and less gullible, his experiments showed.
While cheerfulness fosters creativity, gloominess breeds attentiveness and careful thinking, Professor Joe Forgas told Australian Science Magazine.
I'm seriously grumpy today, so I should be in great shape to overhaul pretty much everything. Send me your thorny problems. Your bad memos. Your personal catastrophes. I'm all over it, but I will complain bitterly and scowl about helping you.
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2 comments:
This article and post reminds me of a few points, which, of course may irritate you if your mood hasn't changed.
I wouldn't equate grumpy with depression, exactly, but both do address the issue of all those relentlessly cheery types infused with annoying amounts of positive bias. Depressed people, lacking such bias tend to be more realistic - if not about themselves sometimes, at least about the world and the people around them.
I can see optimism and enthusiasm having their creative place - otherwise, why invest oneself in an endeavor that has lousy cost/benefit ratios? Yet in a world full of spin and hype, you risk being suckered without a dose of healthy cynicism and a willingness to express it with the emotion it deserves.
The familiar "Old age isn't for whimps," does address physical discomfort issues we ultimately have to face. But that's not all that's going on. Even very functional older folks feel freer to express their irritations as they reach mid to later life. It's one of the "fruits of maturity," and is probably healthy. You reach a point where you have a pretty good sense of who you are, what you like and don't like, and what you're willing to put up with. That makes you more definite, and at a certain point, you figure you've earned the right to stop being so self-sacrificingly agreeable - which people often consider "grumpy." It's like violating the 11th (maybe 12th) cultural commandment: "Thou shalt not confront others with what you really think," which you've at last learned can often be just plain whimpy stupidity.
You can call yourself grumpy. Or maybe you can say you're just maturing. Of course if that's truly the case, you'll probably be darned if you're going to let me or anyone else tell you what to call it.
JIB: I see grumpiness actually as a state to be savored and enjoyed. Not so, depression. Grumpiness also tends to be more fleeting, yes? I'm going to pout and think about it. :}
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