In this article, the author offers his critique on Holburn and Cea's notion on "excessive positivism" that person-centered planners are overconcerned with scientific verification and logical proof. The author believes that Holburn and Cea's notion blurs the important messages they have for person-centered planners by leading toward a debate about optimism versus realism. While Holburn and Cea saw the root of the trouble as self-deception induced by a lopsided focus on the positive, the author sees these temptations to self-deception as an invitation to look more deeply at how people who want to make a positive difference understand contingencies and cope with failure and disillusionment. They raise questions about the extent of people's commitment, the acuity of their reading of their environment, and their capacity for learning. On this view, excessive positivism on the part of administrators generates far more mischief than optimistic person-centered planners do, and those who choose to commit to person-centered planning need to go forward with their eyes open to their environment and their hearts open to one another. Here, the author describes some implications of this alternative perspective.