![]() ![]() Still, if it turned out that inner peace were attainable through simple choices we could each make, that would be a cause for optimism, right? If we could find fulfillment in life not by achieving a specific outcome, but by learning to recognize and draw our attention to those sources of fulfillment that exist inside any situation we happen to face, that would be good news, wouldn’t it?Ī sustainable form of optimism begins with the understanding that any situation can be seen from different vantage points. Of course, it’s unlikely we’ll hear that story because inner peace, in the absence of external accomplishments that make us jealous, is not the kind of thing we tend to gossip about. A truly inspiring story might be that there was a person who battled cancer and a learning disability in their childhood, then suffered bankruptcy and depression in their early career, then decided to take a positive attitude, and because of their newfound perspective, they felt calmer, happier, and more whole - they had better relationships and they were able to maintain a sense of inner peace throughout the rest of their life. They were so positive, but the bus didn’t care.Ī sustainable form of optimism would not promise that our attitude can give us the external outcomes we want rather it would focus on the way our attitude can give us better and more satisfying experiences. These stories conveniently omit the fact that there might be another person who battled cancer and a learning disability in their childhood, then suffered bankruptcy and depression in their early career, then decided to take a positive attitude and launched a promising new business, but got run over by a bus. ![]() In other words, we are being shown an example of a good outcome and told that if only we do a certain thing – taking a positive attitude – we can have an outcome like that. Unfortunately, when this concept is discussed, it often turns into an advertisement for traditional, unsustainable optimism.Īs evidence for the inspiring promise that we can shape our own future by how we view it, we are often presented with a rags-to-riches story where, for example, an individual battled cancer and a learning disability in their childhood, then suffered bankruptcy and depression in their early career, but because they decided to take a good attitude, they went on to achieve great success in business, becoming a bestselling author and well-known philanthropist. ![]() See, I shouldn’t have expected success!”Ī sustainable form of optimism might begin with the well-known quote that “It’s not what happens to you but how you react to it that matters.” That is to say, we can shape the future through our attitude to it – the perspective we choose to take. And that other thing didn’t go well either. What’s a form of optimism that doesn’t depend on good things happening – on dreams coming true – on hard work bearing fruit – on virtue being recognized – or on coin flips turning out according to the bets we’ve placed? What’s a form of optimism that might be resilient to the argument that “This didn’t go well. We could colonize other planets but their suns will die too – it’s not looking great. It’ll expand into a red giant and destroy the earth – what’s left of the earth after our misadventures here.Ī sustainable form of optimism must not require or assume that the future will unfold as we individuals, or as our species would want – because maybe it won’t. But even if those threats are resolved favorably, the sun is going to die sometime. Our species teeters on the verge of self-inflicted calamity including environmental disaster and nuclear annihilation. Not only us, but everyone we’ve ever loved, indeed everyone we’ve ever met, and everyone they’ve ever met. The traditional form of optimism – the expectation of positive outcomes – can be put to rest with a few basic observations about reality. Any version of optimism that depends on how things turn out – or requires blindness to misfortune – is not sustainable optimism. If it takes a streak of good luck to persuade a person to be an optimist, but if a streak of bad luck could later convert them to pessimism, then their worldview is not their own – it’s being yanked around by happenstance. ![]() Sooner or later, a really bad thing will happen, and our confidence in positive outcomes will be shattered. If optimism is the conviction that everything is going to work out as we hope, then it’s not sustainable. ![]()
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