The Old Man and the Sea: Are You a Negative Nelly, or a Positive Polly?

"I have no cramps," he said. "He'll be up soon and I can last. You have to last. Don't even speak of it." (p. 88 of The Old Man and the Sea)

I know there's a LOT of self-talk going on in The Old Man and the Sea, seeing as the Old Man was alone for days on the sea, but this one in particular really resonated with me.

I think how we talk to ourselves is important. I don't know about you, but my default is a Negative Nellie. I have to work hard at the positive, motivating self-talk that the Old Man gave himself to bolster his courage while he was adrift.

What about you?

What some of our members said...

"I think I am a little of both. My motivational talks to myself consist of “Come on, Cindy. You can do better than that!” in an exasperated voice." 

"I can be both, but I’m mostly a Positive Polly."

"Positive Polly. And I will add that I ADORE Hayley Mills and Pollyanna is one of the greatest movies ever made! "

As an aside...

Speaking of Negative Nellie, I am reminded of a story from last summer. My sisters and I got together for the first time in maybe a decade last summer and on our overnight stop in South Dakota, I actually SAW the actress(es) that played Nellie Oleson (and Miss Beadle) in person! We were eating dinner and all of a sudden there was a commotion and before we knew quite what had happened, they had passed our table! (They were in town for something Little House related and apparently all the locals know what they look like these days.)