(This post is adapted from my book: Advocating for the Environment, How to Gather Your Power and Take Action.)
Although some people are natural optimists, many of us need to practice optimism in order to make it a habit. This is especially important to do now, during the dark days of winter, and during a time when both social and traditional media seem firmly intent on presenting as much fear and negative news as they possibly can.
The key is to remember that optimism is a choice. You can choose to focus on the future you want. Optimists don’t diminish the magnitude of the problems humanity faces. But they know that in order to solve these problems, they need to believe that change is possible and that people will recognize what needs to be done. There is power in choosing to be optimistic.
We can be active participants in our own thinking by noticing, refuting, and reframing. Optimism practice means recognizing when we feel defeated or deflated by bad news, and finding something more positive to focus on. To practice optimism means to refocus our thoughts over and over, until optimism becomes a habit.
It’s true that corporations have emitted toxic gases into the air, causing injury and death and threatening life on our planet. It’s also true that many communities, like those in Louisiana’s Cancer Alley, have spoken out against this and effected change.
Which side of the Cancer Alley story would you focus on to move toward positive change? The optimist focuses not on the size and scope of the damage, but on supporting those who speak out and on helping develop and implement solutions.
Author Parker Palmer calls the difference between hard realities and what is possible the “tragic gap”. An effective and optimistic advocate stands in the tragic gap and lets it inform their actions. This requires holding the grief of environmental destruction without becoming cynical or depressed. It means holding a vision of a better future without becoming disconnected from the hard realities. Optimists can use the dangerously warming climate and polluted lands and waters as the impetus to cultivate new ways of stewarding the earth and new ways of doing business. Using the negative to power positive action is standing in the gap, and from there, you can cultivate optimism.
Optimism is more than just hoping things will get better or focusing on the positive. Reframing your thinking from a problems to solutions is an important first step. But once you have shifted your focus to solutions, you must take steps to make things better.
Taking positive action, even small actions like writing a letter to the editor or emailing your state representative, can change your energy from negative to positive. Joining others in working towards a positive goal generates even more positive energy than working alone. There are over 22,000 environmental groups in this country, and most are seeking contributions of time, creativity, and financial support. If you look, you’ll see that opportunities are all around us.
Positive action is a tonic: it generates positive energy for yourself and helps others to do the same. Reframing your thinking and taking positive action is the practice of optimism. And if enough of us do this, we might just change the world.