I am a realist, but on the edge of pessimism. It is probably possible that my pessimism causes a self-fulfilled prophecy which makes me feel as though I am a realist. I also think that this attitude is linked to my depression (but how they interact I do not know).
I hate people who say I should think more optimistically especially when I know there’s a good chance that nothing can be done. I strongly hate false hope. Mostly I try to think that it will either happen or not, so I just go along with it to see the outcome if its no biggie.
Also about the glass half full/half empty. If you filled it up halfway it is HALF FULL, if you drank half of it it is HALF EMPTY.
/edit: Also why I adopt the pessimistic attitude is that I don’t like to be disappointed. I like my world to be predictive. I usually think of the worst scenarios out of each situation and think that might happen. Then when it doesn’t happen I can’t really feel any worse than if I was the opposite – I was hoping for something that didn’t happen. And if it does happen I am already prepared.
I am contradicting myself a bit in places, but its quite situation-specific on how I respond.