“You’re being a bit optimistic aren’t you?”
Even though I’m far from the bubbliest person, it’s a question I’ve heard quite a bit in life. It comes most often from people who think I’m being naive about a given situation. Maybe they’re right. But a lot of times they are wrong. I think I know why.
There’s a misconception about optimism. We’ve conflated it with a sense of toxic positivity, even effusive happiness. But optimism has almost nothing to do with how we feel, how we emote, in a given moment. It’s not an emotional response to stimuli, it’s a purposeful belief.
“Thou must be like a promontory of the sea, against which though the waves beat continually, yet it both itself stands, and about it are those swelling waves stilled and quieted.”
Marcus Aurelius
In my view, optimism is rooted in a very simple assumption: regardless of the moment you face, a brighter future is yours to create. It’s this implacable belief that allows you to weather the swelling, beating waves of Aurelius’ allegory above. Even if those waves are a tough Monday with stale coffee, a bad commute, and a head cold.
Sure, all of those things suck. But you don’t have to be trapped in an emotional response to those external factors that saps your energy. The trick is finding your just cause, your vision, your something that moves your mentality beyond the current moment.
Advocacy work is full of moments that can tear you down. A bill fails to get traction. A regulation gets proposed that could cause a set back for your industry or mission. An election upends your agenda. All of those, and many more, are moments ripe for a negative emotional response. But an optimistic, future oriented mindset will help you move past the crisis.
Such a mindset will also help you better embrace the process of your work. As a volunteer, it will help keep you grounded for the long haul. As an advocacy manager, it will help you ditch reactionary approaches and move toward proactive processes. Strangely enough, when you do that you’ll likely start seeing more wins too.
I’m not an optimist because I always win. I have more chances to win because my optimism keeps me moving forward.
I’m not an optimist because I’m happy-go-lucky. I’m an optimist because it makes my work worthy — worthy of the time, worthy of the effort, worthy of my pride.
I’m not an optimist because everything is right in my world. I’m an optimist because it’s in our power to change what’s wrong.
If you’re feeling down, especially here at the end of the year, it’s time to change the way you think about the future. A few weeks ago I recommended a simple approach, one that can put you on the path to a more optimistic mindset. I hope you’ll spend the waning days of 2021 in gratitude, and work on unlocking that optimism available to all of us.
Part of the Possible 