Recovering Pessimist

David Lindner
  • 5.0 (3)
  • SELF-IMPROVEMENT
  • UPDATED WEEKLY

Recovering Pessimist is a podcast for people who struggle with negativity, cynicism, anxiety, and worst-case thinking—but don’t relate to fake positivity. I’ve spent most of my life preparing for disappointment and calling it realism. This show is about learning to be hopeful again without denying reality. I’m not cured. I’m recovering. Each episode explores pessimism as a coping mechanism, identity before improvement, and what it means to stop bracing and start living honestly. Email: info@recoveringpessimist.com

  1. FEB 10

    Recovering Pessimist - Finding the Right People (Not Just MORE People)

    Most of us don’t struggle because we don’t have enough people — we struggle because pessimism learned that the wrong people can be costly. In this episode of Recovering Pessimist, we explore why “just be vulnerable” is often reckless advice, how pessimism narrows access to protect us, and why healing doesn’t happen through mass disclosure but through the presence of the right witnesses. Drawing on research around social pain, attachment, and nervous-system safety, this episode reframes community as the place where pessimism either tightens its grip — or finally begins to loosen it.

    27 min

  2. FEB 2

    The Recovery Journey: Why Community Comes First

    Pessimism often looks like independence, responsibility, or emotional maturity — especially when you’re the one who “handles things.” In this episode, we look at how pessimism actually grows stronger in isolation, why doing everything internally can feel safe under stress, and how self-regulation starts to fail when there’s no shared load. This isn’t an episode about forcing community or becoming more optimistic. It’s about understanding why pessimism learned to keep things private, what it’s been protecting you from, and how recovery sometimes begins not with changing your thoughts, but with realizing you were never meant to carry the weight alone.

    25 min

  3. JAN 23

    Naming The Journey (Identity Before Improvement)

    What if struggling doesn’t mean you’re failing? In this episode, I talk about what it means to be recovering, not cured — and why your worth can’t be measured by your progress. We explore how pessimism quietly convinces us that improvement is a requirement for belonging, and how recovery actually begins when identity comes first. This episode isn’t about fixing anything. It’s about naming the journey, separating who you are from what you’re experiencing, and allowing yourself to belong even while you’re unfinished. If you’ve ever wondered whether you should be further along by now, this conversation is for you.

    24 min

  4. JAN 15

    Living With The Fear That If People Really Knew You, They’d Leave

    In this episode of The Recovering Pessimist, we name a quiet fear many people carry but rarely say out loud: the fear that if people really knew us, they’d walk away. Through personal story, gentle reflection, and relational insight, this episode explores how pessimism can grow out of learned self-protection, careful editing, and the belief that being “manageable” is the cost of belonging. Rather than pushing forced vulnerability or positivity, the conversation invites listeners to understand why this fear makes sense, how it shapes the way we show up in relationships, and what it might look like to risk small, honest presence instead of constant self-monitoring. It’s an episode for anyone who wants real connection but is tired of feeling like they have to shrink to keep it.

    26 min

  5. JAN 6

    You Can't Become An Optimist Alone

    In this episode of The Recovering Pessimist, we explore a quiet but powerful truth many of us have never named: optimism isn’t something you manufacture alone. Through gentle reflection, neuroscience, and lived experience, we uncover how pessimism often grows not from negativity, but from learning to carry fear and disappointment without witnesses. Rather than offering quick fixes or forced positivity, this episode invites listeners to reconsider independence and discover how shared calm and honest connection can become the starting point for real, sustainable optimism. It’s an episode for anyone who’s been trying to stay hopeful on their own—and is tired of doing it that way.

    34 min

  6. 12/18/2025

    Recovering Pessimist 014: Staying Optimistic During the Holidays (Without Lying to Yourself)

    The holidays are emotionally loud, expectation-heavy, and exhausting — which makes pessimism feel inevitable. In this episode of Recovering Pessimists, we explore why a tired brain becomes more cynical during the holidays (it’s a protective response), and how to stay gently optimistic without forcing cheer. Using neuroscience, CBT tools, mindfulness, low-effort gratitude, and Isaiah 40, we learn how to choose presence over performance and accuracy over fake positivity.

    22 min

  7. 10/09/2025

    Recovering Pessimist 013: The Optimist's Toolkit: Simple Daily Habits to Rewire Your Brain

    This week on The Recovering Pessimist, we’re ditching the doom-scroll and equipping you with "The Optimist's Toolkit," a powerful collection of evidence-based strategies to manually rewire your brain for resilience and hope. We reveal how your brain's evolutionary "negativity bias" sabotages your peace, and then we introduce actionable solutions: from using the CBT technique of the "Evidence Trial" to fact-check your worst thoughts, to utilizing the 5-4-3-2-1 Mindfulness method to pull yourself back into the present. We also discuss how daily "Small Wins" journaling activates a dopamine reward loop to reinforce positive neural pathways, and how the peace promised in Scripture serves as the ultimate spiritual anchor against anxiety. This episode proves that optimism is a skill, and with the right tools, you can actively change the path your thoughts travel.

    22 min

  8. 10/01/2025

    Recovering Pessimist 012: Dethroning the Dictator

    This week, "The Recovering Pessimist" issues an eviction notice to your Inner Critic (or "Merv," as we call him). We dive into the neuroscience of self-sabotage, explaining why that judgmental voice is really just your fear-driven amygdala hijacking your logic. Learn why perfectionism is procrastination in disguise and how to use simple CBT techniques to fact-check your most catastrophic thoughts. We also provide mindfulness tools to externalize the voice, gratitude practices to literally rewire your brain for resilience, and Biblical support to remind you that your worth is a settled, non-negotiable matter of grace. Tune in to move the critic out of the driver's seat and finally empower your calmer, more compassionate self to lead.

    24 min
See All (20)

5
out of 5
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About

Recovering Pessimist is a podcast for people who struggle with negativity, cynicism, anxiety, and worst-case thinking—but don’t relate to fake positivity. I’ve spent most of my life preparing for disappointment and calling it realism. This show is about learning to be hopeful again without denying reality. I’m not cured. I’m recovering. Each episode explores pessimism as a coping mechanism, identity before improvement, and what it means to stop bracing and start living honestly. Email: info@recoveringpessimist.com

Information

  • Creator
    David Lindner
  • Years Active
    2021 - 2026
  • Episodes
    20
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © David Lindner
  • Show Website
    Recovering Pessimist