Today we are living in chaotic times. Millions of people are either worried about losing their jobs, getting sick or constantly bombarded with bad news everywhere they turn. How do you find optimism in times like this?
The answer is history.
The history of our existence is more chaotic than peaceful. Within that chaos, humanity has always found a way to persevere through famine, war, pestilence, market crashes, personal challenges… this list goes on.
Unfortunately there are always casualties along the way, but the legacy of those who lost the battles should stand as beacons of inspiration to continue fighting the good fight. Otherwise, those lost in the wake of chaos will have suffered for nothing.
Looking back at the last few years, we as a nation have endured a rise in civil unrest, violent fluctuations in the markets, higher cost of living with stagnant wages, wars and now a pandemic.
Through it all, we have individually maintained our path forward. Individually we have done our best to take care of our families. Individually we have put in the work to help the companies we work with continue to drive progress. Individually we have done our part to keep the fabric of our nation together, no matter how much pressure is applied to drive us apart.
This individual strength is what leads to our collective greatness. Optimism doesn’t mean it will be easy. It means that during times of duress, there is a fundamental belief that the situation will get better. Our resolve is what gets us through the trying times and come out on the other side in one piece.
Now is a time more than ever to maintain our resolve because in due time, the challenges facing us today will pass. During this storm however, each of us will learn valuable lessons that one day we’ll pass on to the next generation.
We will find new ways to adapt and future proof ourselves from the madness surrounding us. This isn’t my point of view, this is what history tells us.
History tells us we can beat the Great Depression, we can beat the Nazi’s, we can beat massive job losses, we can beat racism, we can beat crooks who have systematically tried to rob the people of this country… no matter what is thrown at us; in due time we can beat it.
Today we are in a fight, with a healthy does of optimism and a strong sense of resolve, we will beat everything we are facing today as well. It won’t be easy, but in the famous words of the late Jim Morrison, “we will break on through to the other side.”
How do I know this?
History tells us that the human spirit is undefeated because we are all still here putting up a good fight.
