Self-Fulfilling Prophecies

Today, I watched a video that said, among other things, that pessimism is a self-fulfilling prophecy. If we think that things can't possibly improve, then we won't put in the effort to improve things, and nothing will get better. By the same token, hope can be a self-fulfilling prophecy. If we have hope, and act on it, then we can, in small ways, improve the world. Reality is shaped by our actions, and our actions are shaped by our thoughts and attitudes, so our beliefs about the world can have an effect on the part of the world around us. If we believe the world is terrible, then we're more likely to see the terrible things in the world, and possibly add to them, but if we think the world is good, we're more likely to both see and contribute to the goodness in the world. We choose what kind of world we live in, partly by choosing how we see the world. Both optimism and pessimism are self-fulfilling prophecies, and I know which one I'd rather see fulfilled in my little corner of the world.