Choosing Hope #5: Reasons to be hopeful

(Fifth in a week-long series on hope and optimism for the future.)

I closed my email and turned my phone over so that I couldn’t see the screen. I didn’t get the news I wanted. I had been hoping for something else. I wanted to shout, I wanted to scream. I wanted to cry out that I deserved better news.

I couldn’t get the message out of my mind, so I decided to go for a walk. Is it possible to walk with anger? I’m sure I looked like a crazed lunatic to passersby. Fortunately, the formal act of walking started to melt away the anger I held inside. I started to walk more freely and my mind started to wander. I didn’t forget about the bad news, but it wasn’t top of mind.

Image by Noelle Otto via Pexels.

Looking past the immediate

The world can feel like a heavy place at times, but it’s important to remember that there are plenty of uplifting things happening too. The more I walked, the more I started to think less about my immediate challenges and more about reasons why I’m optimistic for the future. Here’s 17 reasons — some off-the-wall, some personal, some more focused on the world — why I have hope for our shared future:

—I write about my dog Nittany a lot on my blog. I write about her, because I find that it’s hard not to look at her joy and her crazy antics and not be happy about life. For me, it’s Nittany, for someone else it may be a cat or dog or some other pet. Animals are a wondrous thing,

—Fellow bloggers and writers who I’ve worked with in the past who cheer me up and inspire me to be open, honest, and to push my creative juices.

Image by SlimMars 13 via Pexels.

—Yes, there are lots of negatives in the world. There are higher prices and inflation, but there’s good things too. For example, inflation means that things cost more — the price of 12 large eggs in Philadelphia are now running $4.12 — but, on the plus side, mom and pop farmers can now charge more for their goods.

—Fidget spinners, those small, ball-bearing devices that the user can rotate between his or her fingers to relieve nervous energy and ease stress. (Give me a good reason to not to include them! I can’t think of one.)

—Ice cream. It’s hard to be mad when you’re eating ice dream.

—With new drugs and treatments, cancer is becoming less of a death sentence every year.

—The Internet and the (relative) free-flow of information.

—The knowledge that I am where I’m at today, and that’s okay.

Image by Matheus Guimarães via Pexels.

—The rapid growth of technology. (I’m amazed each day that my simple blog can be read by someone hundreds or even thousands of miles away from my little part of the world.)

—Child mortality rates according to the World Health Organization are lower than they have ever been in human history. A doctor once told me that he would sign up for the worst job in the world if he would never again have to look into a parent’s eyes and tell them that their child had died.

—The chance to write each day.

—Nature. A beautiful and precious thing. Yes, a photograph is a beautiful thing, but there’s nothing like being in the woods or by a pond and being quiet and still as the trees and water around you.

—The emotional high of getting a text, email, or call from a friend.

—While the elusive snow leopard still faces threats, the big cat — which lives in central Asia, from southern Russia down to China, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India and Nepal and was first listed as endangered in 1972 — was downgraded to “vulnerable” in 2017. The snow leopard still has a long way to go, but it’s making progress.

—People are generous. Global charitable giving is up. In particular, the National Philanthropic Trust reported that Americans gave $484.85 billion charitable causes in 2021, a 4% increase from 2020. World figures are up too.

—Volunteer firefighters. Well, let’s just say volunteers period. We come across volunteers numerous times in our life, from the volunteer coaches on our kids’ teams to the retired neighbor who delivers Meals on Wheels for the elderly. They deserve our thanks.

—Faith, family and friends.

Yes, I’m excited and hopeful for our future.