“Life is a creation of the mind” –Buddha

“Mike, all pessimists believe they are realists” – Mrs. Olson

 So I’ve got that going for me. There are mixed emotions running amok amongst the Denver Nuggets faithful a day after a near-miss at the playoffs’ lowest rung. Whether you see the glass as half empty or half full, you can form a laundry list of bullet points about this Denver Nuggets season. Here’s a sampling of both of those voices…

Nuggets shot glass half empty

  • Another series of injuries to an oft-injured crew
  • The defense is, uh… not… good
  • The offensive system leans heavily on one guy while it works out a few kinks
  • Maddeningly inconsistent
  • A lot of the errors are mental
  • Out of the playoffs four years running
  • That last bullet was entirely avoidable
  • Etc…

Nuggets shot glass half full

  • The core is very young, and that explains at least a couple of Negative Nancy’s bullets above
  • The offense still has room to grow, and is already one of the league’s best
  • Through their ups and downs, the players have stuck together this year, and genuinely seem to like each other
  • A seven game improvement, by far their best since the bottom dropped out
  • There are a couple of the youngsters who could/will be stars in this league
  • One of the vets had a career season, and the others had some shining moments
  • Back to a winning record at home
  • Three points in their first 16 games makes this team 43-39 due via OT losses
  • Etc… 

Which voice is yours? Maybe it’s a healthy mix of both. Amazingly, your perspective can be an indicator of your health, lifespan, income, and more, as well-told in this Forbes article. But can you simply shift your prospects like flipping a switch? Changing your perspective is no simple matter, according to Psychology Today. It seems that it’s far more likely you’ll be able to filter your perspective to something more realistic than to drop a 180 on your worldview.

I’ve specifically left my own opinions out of this (as best I’m able) for a couple decent reasons. I’m still reflecting on both of the lists above, and more. I’d like to keep reading the opinions of Nuggets Nation in as uninfluenced a way as I can. And, I think we Stiffs may be sharing those thoughts collectively, and that right soon, so I need to get my sh—together quickly.  

But how closely does your general sense of pessimism or optimism match your view of the current team, and is this Denver Nuggets team’s glass half empty or half full?

P.S. Thanks to NBASTORE for the glorious shotglass photo. Hopefully this link to purchase your lovely-and-almost-out-of-stock seven dollar shotglass make us square.  

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