Finding optimism amidst challenging times
The older you are, the more experience you have and the harder it often is to feel positive and optimistic. In fact, sometimes it is hard to stay positive – you can feel like the world is beating at you with negativity which makes you feel disenfranchised. The opposite of empowered. You can no longer predict what is going to happen or how. You might feel that the situation is out of (your) control. You don’t know what to do; how to make a good decision and – worst of all – the sense of choice seems to disappear.
BUT… you can approach things differently. Our most valuable tool — one we all have — is curiosity. In fact it is a key quality for any futurist. I am enthusiastically (and I suspect eternally) curious - like a small child. Whenever I catch myself sinking into the morass of pessimism, I remember to engage my curiosity and I go looking for opportunity.
I look for something new and interesting, I look for success, I look for ‘how’ and ‘why’ and ‘where’. That’s why I write this Substack: as an antidote to negativity. We aren’t going to hell in a hand-basket, on the contrary, we are making progress. And when I engage my curiosity, I learn and I feel empowered. Even if it is only to learn what I can do and what I can’t, it changes my feelings and my motivation.
So, when you feel worn down by the world, engage your curiosity and go looking for what is going right (a great place to visit is Our World in Data). Explore positive stories. Keep your eyes open for nuggets – a new antibiotic, a story like the one below about Aptech Africa, stories about people and communities working together. I promise you will find them. It is my go-to when I’m feeling down and battered, needing a lift.
I also find a way to connect with nature, with people and with myself. I slow down, reflect on what is important to me, my purpose and what I can contribute. Because when I am being kind to someone, or doing something for good, the feelings of despair disappear.
In a recent Fix the News, Amy Rose shared the following story (it is at the end of the blog) about attending the Clinton Global Initiative:
As I sat in a café yesterday, I found myself wanting to switch off. I silently urged myself to stay open, to allow this experience to change me as I need to change, rather than resisting it. Because that's the real challenge of events like these—not just hearing about global issues and solutions, but allowing that knowledge to transform us and our actions in meaningful ways, after we've left the building.
It's not an easy process. It's uncomfortable and overwhelming, and at times it can make you feel small in the face of such enormous challenges. But it's also inspiring, energising, and ultimately necessary if the story of progress is going to trump the story of collapse. If you find yourself facing a similar existential crisis, I recommend sitting down with Dr Jane Goodall for a quick chat, which is something I was lucky enough to do just after she appeared on the main stage with José Andrés.
'You can't save the planet,' she told me. 'We have this expression "think globally, act locally", but it's the wrong way around. If you think locally, you see that you can make a difference and you want to do more. And then you realise that around the globe there are other people acting, who are doing their little bit—and millions of little bits add up to big change.'
So that's what I'm taking with me—millions of little bits. That's what counts. And while 175 commitments are a great start, we can't leave it there. We all need to step up and commit to eight billion more.
Here is a collection of some positive pieces of news, some from past posts or books, but still worth remembering:
· From the Economist: Aptech Africa is a solar-engineering, procurement and construction firm that was launched in South Sudan in 2011 by two Eritreans with seed capital of just $20,000. By 2023 it had offices in nine African countries and operated in 20 more. The company’s main product is an inverter to turn solar power into electricity. There are a rising number of homegrown African multinationals. This homegrown multinational thrives by tapping into Africa’s solar boom, driving local innovation. More power to them!
· My last Substack highlighted the UK’s last day of coal power generation.
· Hans Rosling wrote, in Factfulness about how we are wrong about many of the ideas we have about the world today; much has improved, far more than most people think.
· Rutger Bregman wrote, in Humankind, about how people aren’t all bad: rather, mostly we all mean well.
· Hannah Ritchie wrote in Not the End of the World how we are making progress on addressing Global Heating.
May you find a way to re-empower yourself with new optimism and opportunity.
"re-empower yourself with new optimism" - an excellent message!