You might not be an optimist.
You might not be a pessimist.
You might therefore occupy the middle ground between the two.
If that’s you, then you’ll be an agathist.
An agathist accepts elements of both optimism and pessimism seeing the world as a place where headaches, hassles and hurdles abound, but not forever, as things will come right in the end.
This is a doctrine that says despite our many trials and tribulations, all things incline toward the good.
An agathist is one who believes all things lead to good.
Adopting an agathist worldview is arguably more realistic than being an optimist because there is the acceptance that life is going to be bumpy.
Looking through agathist glasses means the good times will eventually roll again but in the meantime and before that happens, we will have to endure the bad times the best we can. There is meaning inside every event and it is up to us to use it, exploit it and do something good with it.
The long-term view of life is that everything will work out for the best.
An agathist knows that things have a way of working out as our problems are not forever. Leaning into our conditions is going to be more productive than being overly optimistic or pessimistic.
I think agathism is a doctrine of optimism, a systemic optimism but it doesn’t go the whole hog and see the world quite as ‘the best’. It’s more of a balanced and realistic worldview. Good is good enough for the agathist (derived from the Greek word ‘agathistos’ which means ‘beneficial’ or ‘good’).
If you believe that all things work together for good then declare yourself an agathist.
Can you live the life of an agathist and believe that though things are currently bad, one day they will lead to ultimate good?
Can you recognise the key lessons that setbacks represent?
An agathist is more likely to say something along the lines of the following:
Everything works out in the end. If it hasn’t worked out yet, then it’s not the end.