Optimism
It’s become the norm lately to approach the world with pessimism, especially among younger people. There was a time when I’d walk through the hospital and say good morning to the nurses and technicians I’d pass and be greeted with smiles or ‘how are you doing’. Now it’s a rarity. If I’m acknowledged at all it’s with a reluctant wave or a blank-faced nod. I understand that life is tough for many. I understand that our current administration seems an unlikely nightmare to many. Prices are high, housing is expensive if not completely out of reach for many young people, wages are stagnant, and the world seems ready to burn at any moment. I understand.
Maybe I’m old and have seen too much. Maybe I’m just a fool. I don’t appreciate or agree with our current President. I also don’t believe he’s an existential threat to our Republic. We have weathered equal or worse crises. In 1803, in 1814, 1853,1861, 1870 1917 and 1968 we faced and overcame equally divisive and significant internal political issues. This is not to mention the true existential crisis of the middle years of the twentieth century from 1939 through 1989. (Those who don’t understand what I’m talking about should review their American history).
I believe in this country and its people. We are the first and I think the only country founded not on shared ethnicity or language, but in ideas. Ideas brilliantly expressed in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. Thes are what has sustained us. Ideas and the principles of honor, tradition and optimism.
Yes, I know our current ruling political party has no honor. What of it? Cicero once said, “Treat not with dishonorable men. You both lose honor in the process, but they have nothing to lose”. Retain your personal honor. Insist those around you do the same, especially those who represent your interests in government. If you are in the opposition, oppose in meaningful ways.
You have a choice. You can be outraged and take solace in your moral superiority, but that does nothing but feed more outrage. Sharing it on the internet spreads the outrage but does little to change anything. You can be outraged and share it with like-minded people but then use that to work to translate your outrage into action. Find some way to work for a candidate, a political party, a non-governmental agency, something. Even if it’s not political. If you outrage is that vital services are being cut, work for someone who can take up the slack – a shelter, a food bank, a service agency. Give your support or your money or just your time. You can’t? Then stew in your outrage.
Tradition isn’t just respecting the way things have been done in the past or slavishly following conventions. It means respect for history, understanding how we got here and why, knowing what institutions form the roots of our identity as a country.
Finally, retain your optimism. This is perhaps the hardest thing to do in troubling times, but it is most essential. It is the only antidote to despair. Through all the challenges we as a nation have faced, a deep-rooted optimism has sustained us. Stewing in outrage divides you from others. It leads to a take no prisoners attitude toward others who disagree with your point of view. As that point of view narrows, so does the circle you find acceptable.
Optimism helps to maintain equilibrium. Optimism is the conviction that however bad the circumstance, there’s always the hope it will get better. It is that simple and that hard. Retaining hope and optimism in the face of overwhelming adversity is hard, I know. But the alternative, despair, robs the future to poison the present. It saps our ability to take joy in life. Studies of people who have survived and thrived in the face of adversity suggest they all have one thing in common: optimism. Don’t sabotage the future or poison the present. Take joy where you can find it, help those who need it where you can, keep your honor, remember our history and how far we’ve come.
