Kylie Lang: How to find optimism in bleak times

The new year usually signals a fresh outlook on life, but many are struggling right now. Here’s how to get your groove back, writes Kylie Lang.

I’m struggling to find my bag of optimism. It’s usually full to bursting at the start of a new year, and very easy to spot, if not trip over.

But three weeks into 2023, I can’t for the life of me place it.

Instead, I’m wandering around in a bit of a fog, unsure how to move forward.

Without this bag – which contains generous measures of hope, enthusiasm and confidence in the future – I’m like a tradie without tools.

The only reassuring thing is that I am not alone. Plenty of people are trying to find their spark after a year that was brutal and unforgiving.

While battling the ongoing disruptions of Covid-19, our senses were assaulted by tragedy after tragedy – families being wiped out in car accidents and helicopter crashes, police officers slain for simply doing their jobs, and homeowners killed as youth crime spirals so far out of control it appears impossible to rein in.

Whatever shred of trust we had in our state politicians – a mob of incompetents who wouldn’t survive five minutes in private enterprise – has vanished. All we can do is keep the pressure on, then repay their mishandling of every single issue that matters to Queensland at the 2024 election. Looking beyond our shores doesn’t fill the joy cup either, with the war in Ukraine a headlining heartbreak that just won’t go away.

With my bag of optimism nowhere in sight, I’ve deferred to the experts to source a little sunshine.

Johan Norberg is a senior fellow at the Cato Institute, a think tank based in Washington DC. He and Tony Morley, a progress studies writer from Sydney, have collaborated on a terrific article published on the Big Think website this week.

“The primary reason to be optimistic as 2023 matures is that humans are problem solvers,” Norberg and Morley write.

“We constantly face surprises, accidents, and horrors – these are a given. But we also quickly get to work to try and fix them. When we do that, we acquire more knowledge and technological capabilities with which to tackle the next surprising challenge even better.

“Over these past 20 years, we have suffered financial crises, pandemics, conflicts, and war. But astonishingly, if you look at objective indicators of human living standards, these have also been the best 20 years in human history. Extreme poverty was reduced by almost 70 per cent. At least four million fewer children died in 2020 than in 2000.”

Billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates

Norberg and Morley suggest we pay less attention to the “disruptions and horrors” and focus more on the contributions of decent people in our communities. They list healthcare workers and scientists who stay up all night to save lives, and entrepreneurs who rebuild strained supply chains to get food to where it’s needed.

To this we could add volunteers whose efforts strengthen social bonds, teachers able to turn around young lives, and good Samaritans who put others first. Also, our trusted friends and loved ones in whose company we feel replenished.

“People are remarkably resilient and imaginative,” Norberg and Morley say, “and as long as they have the freedom to think for themselves, innovate, and adapt to constantly changing circumstances, we will continue to see progress.”

Billionaire entrepreneur Bill Gates sings a similar tune.

“The world has adapted to big disruptions before, and we’ll do it again,” he writes.

He says public trust in politicians, globally, is at rock bottom, which makes it harder for governments to take action to prevent a climate disaster or the next pandemic.

“If your people don’t trust you, they’re not going to support major new initiatives,” Gates says. “Think tanks and academics can point in the right direction, but at the end of the day – in a democracy at least – it seems to me like you need to pick the right leaders and give them the space to try new ideas.”

Australian counsellor Bev Aisbett – whose new book, like many 2023 releases, addresses anxiety – says we should look for “meaning in adversity” as it can “enrich your life”.

“Changing your outlook can mean the difference between going under and bouncing back,” Aisbett says in The Book of Burnout.

“You may not have control over world events but you do have absolute control over how you respond to them.”

She advises being alert to feelings of exhaustion, negativity and reduced efficacy, and suggests not taking on too much, factoring in rest and asking for help.

“Too often we’re actually the source of our own stress,” she says. “We can do this by how we think about the situation. We can often create stress in our minds even before anything occurs.”

Timely advice, particularly if, like me, you’re yet to find your bag of optimism.

Kylie Lang is associate editor of The Courier-Mail

LOVE

● More culinary clout for the Gold Coast. Brisbane hospo kings the Gambaros will open a cafe and a modern Mediterranean restaurant in the upcoming 12-storey $42m Awaken apartment complex in Coolangatta.

● The last two CityCat terminals are set to reopen next month, helping put memories of the devastating 2022 floods behind us. Get set to hop on and off again at North Quay and the Regatta.

LOATHE

● Daft D’Ath: so far out of her depth as Health Minister, she thinks obstetricians are needed in only 5-10 per cent of births. Stop pretending you are the best person for the job and do the decent thing and resign.

● The public screaming of obscenities by former Australian cricket captain Michael Clarke and current girlfriend Jade Yarbrough. Fight all you like but have some consideration for others, including children, within earshot.