How do I remain Optimistic?

Many detractors tell me that World Peace isn’t possible and that we are creatures of habit, flawed by nature and destined to destroy ourselves. Gosh, what fun these people are to talk to. How do I remain optimistic against all this negativity? Faith: anything is possible.

Television, radio, radar, satellites, food stamps, ….. were all considered impossible until they were made possible. As one of my personal heroes, Nelson Mandela, once said,

“It always seems impossible until it’s done.”

So is a new, balanced, healthy and peaceful planet impossible?

Absolutely not.

Our world has been on a constant evolution of knowledge and thought since the dawn of time. Knowing this, I remain optimistic that capitalism will inevitably evolve. Capitalism 1.0, profit-above-everything, will evolve to serve the poor as well as the rich.  The narrative of terrorism, fear, and economic failure will be crowded out by inspiring stories of new opportunities, balanced solutions, and Social Enterprise. Our society WILL evolve, just as it always has, and we WILL survive.

We have landed on a comet, we’ve mapped the depths of our oceans, and we’ve saved the whales. There is nothing we can’t do if we co-operate, challenge the status quo, crowd out the laggards, and embrace change and new ideas.

It is easy to point fingers, place blame, and demand retribution, but we cannot move to tomorrow until we forgive yesterday and accept today. Our history can’t be changed, it just was.  Our present can’t be changed, it just is. Our future, on the other hand, is yet to be. It is yet unwritten, and will be written by all of us currently living.

I remain optimistic because we are all in this together

If anyone is to be blamed for the past, we must all take our share of responsibility for allowing what happened to happen, as well as take pride in how far we have all come.

Today, more than ever, we understand the importance of a healthy eco-system, the interconnectedness of all living life, and the unpredictable power of nature. We can view our planet from space, we know there are other planets capable of sustaining life, and we know the universe does not revolve around our well-being.

Today we have the technology to 3-D print anything;, to email three-quarters of the planet and to send stuff to anyone, anywhere, in a matter of hours. How can we not remain optimistic? Today we have the tools, knowledge, wealth and ingenuity needed to move everything forward.

I remain optimistic that, together, we will crowd out old ideas, old fears and old means of control.

Together we will create new economies, new solutions and a safe and peaceful world.