EVIDENCE-BASED

I trust in a rational belief system, built on facts and concepts, ultimately linked to observation and experience, which fit together in a coherent way as part of a useful (for making good predictions) logical framework.  Whether it be my own worldview —or a collective product of a multitude of minds (scientific consensus)—I see this framework as steadily evolving (improving!) based on feedback.  If they pass certain tests, I'm generally able to accept psychologically disturbing features of Reality (example: the finality of death) rather than deny them. I strive to separate fantasy from reality and
not deceive myself.

 POSITIVE EXPECTATIONS

If hope means having only positive expectations, I’m a hopeful optimist.    I can firmly believe, with complete confidence and trust, in something for which there’s little or no evidence, and certainly no proof. I can deny evidence and believe in something if doing so provides hope or useful psychological advantage (example: belief in an afterlife.) I sometimes interpret events / actions of others, and make decisions, based on what I’d like to be true, rather than what is true. I can delude myself. I see it as adopting healthy beliefs which promote my and perhaps my family's or loved ones continued psychological well-being.