All around the globe, we continue on an unpredictable journey. During this disconcerting time, the Executive Circle of Sage-ing International wishes to continue connecting with our beloved community in a spirit of support and encouragement. We aim to explore gems of wisdom, and foster hopefulness in ways that offer mental, emotional and spiritual sustenance along the way. Every day is a new day and often a confusing one. It is not easy to find balance between cooperating and actively participating in our local and global communities, while attempting to pay attention to our personal journey during this pandemic. These challenges, in the midst of imperative needs for justice, healing, and assurance for survival, call us to new heights in seeking wisdom.
We are well into summer—a time when it was initially predicted that we would likely be in the midst of successfully resolving the COVID-19 season. Many even believed that by mid-year these difficulties would have passed. Clearly, vast struggles persist and other urgencies are emerging. We are facing challenges relative to the pandemic, resolution of social injustices, strengthening wages against climate change, and urgency to revitalize our oceans. We are moving through weeks preceding a Presidential election in the US, while other countries are encountering crucial societal events. As we persevere in the face of personal and societal issues, we ride perpetual waves of turbulence—ups and downs between the tension of pessimism and optimism, despair and hope, apathy and positive action. How do we uphold a spirit of optimism in the midst of such unprecedented “storms?”
Many of us continue to seek ways to positively contribute in our rapidly-changing and tumultuous world. As we make attempts to respond positively and nurture an Era of Awakening, Rumi’s wisdom comes to mind, “You have seen my descent, now watch my rising.” Is it possible that we can tie a knot in this rope of life, and hold on to an idea that there is transformative power in activating optimism? Some may think it absurd to even suggest optimism is possible as we traverse a time of wide-spread strife. However, at this very time when many feel helpless, we have personal power to nurture our own healthy sense of optimism while going through this time of great suffering. Yes, we do have the ability to imagine that possibilities coming out of chaos can positively affect our personal lives and thereby surely influence the world.
Dr. James Hollis says in his new book, Living Between Worlds, “It is no secret that we live in troubled times. People in most eras—and most geographic and spiritual locations—have also thought themselves living in troubled times, and for sure, most individuals come to troubles sooner or later in the course of their own lifetime. Frequently, what we expect from life, from others, from ourselves is not what we experience. Frequently, what once seemed to make sense now seems inadequate; what we thought we would count on, now uncertain.”
Life does not afford us an opportunity to see over the horizon of current circumstances. However, there is comfort in Jane Hirschfield’s poem pointing to wisdom inherent in the natural world when we may not know what to expect next:
Optimism
More and more I have come to admire resilience.
Not the simple resistance of a pillow, whose foam
returns over and
over to the same shape, but the sinuous tenacity of a
tree: finding the
light newly blocked on one side,
it turns to another.
A blind intelligence, true.
But out of such persistence arose turtles, rivers,
mitochondria, figs—
all this resinous, unretractable earth.
Emily Esfahani Smith studies resilience of the human spirit. She notes Victor Frankl’s reference to “tragic optimism.” There is a Buddhist saying, “In the midst of that, there is a way to find a light, to find meaning and hope.” Tragic optimism is the ability to find hope and maintain a sense of meaning during tragedy and loss, anxiety and grief. Tragic optimism is going through the pain and adversity, experiencing the hard things, but also maintaining optimism that there is meaning and value to be found. https://youtu.be/XjX4_L4BpvU
Of course, it is common to feel like our optimism becomes “battered” during arduous times. And, it may be that we enter the second half of life with less optimism that we had in the first half of life. Disappointments take a toll, and shocking events wherein we feel we have little authority affect our personal optimism. While, on one hand, we hope to see a bright horizon, or at least have a sense of favorable outcomes, there seems to be unresolvable global problems, uncertainties and losses that hamper and even threaten optimism. Yet, optimism is a powerful and magical ingredient in a medicine the world needs!
Remedial Optimism: Medical and social scientists underscore the importance that optimism is crucial to health and well-being–mentally, physically and spiritually. Optimism supports us in being open to alternatives when the going gets tough. It helps us to be more mindful, wiser in taking helpful risks, and to staying on course with our dreams for a flourishing future. It fosters hardiness that is needed to initiate growth and to respond to setbacks.
Question: Where in my life can I improve a sense of optimism?
Realistic Optimism: Dr. William Sadler proposes that a kind of optimism that is needed during difficult times is realistic optimism. Realistic optimism is tough, resilient, responsible, and hopeful. It is a combination of positive emotion, faith, a sense of self, and personal meaning. Realistic optimism helps us meet distress but not be overcome. We face adversities and turn them into opportunities. We allow positive factors to outweigh negative ones. We learn to hope and believe that at least in our personal lives, all shall be well to the best of our ability.
Question: In what ways does optimism influence resilience in my life?
Formidable Optimism: At the heart of pure optimism is a belief that it is powerful and awe-inspiring. It holds a spiritual essence—a mysterious spark affecting the human spirit. When we acknowledge that optimism—regardless of how it is referenced—is essential to humanity’s evolution, it becomes compelling to turn toward optimism. As we carry forward during this time—wisely reframed as a pandemic of love, may we deepen in realization of its potency. By gaining insight and deeper understanding into the formidable possibilities of optimism, we also gain immense opportunities to alter situations in which we might otherwise feel powerless.
Question: What does hope and spiritual beliefs have to do with optimism?
Transformative Optimism: Optimism is a tremendously powerful force in human development and renewal. It is an energy that influences personal healing and well-being. It acts as a motivator in creativity and learning, and is an enabler of change and growth. It also holds a place for trust as we wait for an outcome. By means of optimism, we actually do have personal authority to activate inexplicable change for the good of our planet—one moment at a time.
Question: Just how do I optimistically uphold a better world without denying reality?
Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, founder of Sage-ing International, gave wise advice, “But if you admit that your life has a goal toward which it’s moving inexorably, you might judge differently the outcome of events that once seemed tragic, disillusioning or painful. Perhaps an invisible force was orchestrating events at life’s momentous turning points…” Is it possible that regardless of the tragedy and the trauma the world experiences, perhaps one day we will look back and see with new eyes astonishing meaning and value in what we are experiencing today.
