Abby Beal in that first article
When we dismiss someone else's issues by saying, "It's not that bad. Stay positive," we are minimizing their feelings furthering ourselves from any sense of empathy. Not doing anything about the problem has nothing to do with negativity, but everything to do with stupidity.This doesn't have much to do with cynicism, but I agree with this so much (in most situations, that is). I've seen a lot of people who deal with others' problems in exactly this way, and it hardly ever helps.
