double negative

We are all guilty of negativity, pessimism, and cynical thought. It seems that while we use negativity to shield ourselves from the potential failures of our hopes and dreams (e.g., "I really hope this happens, but it probably won't", or "It has always been my dream to do this, but I'll probably never get the chance"), we are unwittingly turning our hopes and dreams into self-fulfilling prophecies of failure. I'm of the humble opinion that the acts of living, hoping, dreaming are hard enough; they don't need any help to fail. Yet we, as human beings, constantly assist their failure by reminding ourselves how unlikely we are to actually succeed. Why? Why limit ourselves to failure? Why give up on our hopes before giving them a chance to sprout wings and fly?

Is it simple human nature? Is it a primitive defense mechanism to prevent our lives from being shattered by the unrealization of something for which we hope? Or is it a coward's excuse? Are we so afraid that the subjects and objects of our individual desires will become reality that we sabotage our own efforts? Or is it a different variety of defence? By subverting our dreams, from what are we attempting to protect ourselves? An imagined eventual failure or disappointment? Possibly. But is it also possible that our subconscious minds know what's best for us? Could it be that the parts of our minds that remain hidden from us use negativity to prevent us from attaining that which is bad for us, that which we don't really need, that which is trivial and superficial, that which would prove to be more of a burden than a benefit?

Whatever the reason, it has become increasingly apparent to me, through conversations and events in my own life as well as my interactions with others, that the power of suggestion, the so-called power of mind over matter, this self-imposed and self-deprecating cynicism that we humans occasionally adopt is a very effective tool by which we keep ourselves perpetually martyred.