When we find ourselves in the of , uncertainty or , can impossible, to hope for.
At the end of September, Hurricane Helene on my in North Carolina. Businesses, homes and more than 100 lives were . Schools were closed for a month. There was no for three weeks, and drinking water took far to come back. And yet, from Day 1, the rallied. People were out with saws roads; neighbors water, food and ; porches, backyards and storefronts into mini- for gatherings and . Rebuilding will be a and , but it is already underway.
And for many, myself , the prospects of the new administration and its , has been a temptation.
In both North Carolina and on the , it can feel like we are in , in hope, in vigor. But every of progress — both and collective — and downturns, of hopelessness. In the aftermath of and , it is understandable to freeze or down. But , we’ve got to up and move — if for no other reason than the is worse.
Finding and hope despite inevitable , and is a life . In 1949 the Holocaust survivor, psychiatrist and psychologist Viktor Frankl coined the term “” to this . Tragic optimism emerged out of what Dr. Frankl to be the three tragedies that everyone (not only those of us who have seen the worst of the world, as he had). The first tragedy is , because we are made of flesh and bone. The second is guilt, because we have the to make and feel when things don’t go our way. The third is , because we must the reality that everything we cherish is , our own lives.
Tragic optimism acknowledging, and that life will hardship and hurt, then doing everything we can to move with a positive . It that one cannot be happy by trying to be happy all the time, or worse yet, assuming we to be. Rather, tragic optimism holds space for the of human and emotion, giving us to feel and sadness, hope and , and — sometimes in the same day, and in the same hour.
Research shows that this of flexibility is with resilience. For example, a study of U.S. college students after Sept. 11 that those who could hold on to hope at the same time as demonstrated greater resilience and fewer depressive in the tragedy’s aftermath. This finding is not about denial or delusion. Most of the study negative emotions such as , and sadness. It’s just that the more resilient ones were able to hold on to positive emotions, too.
Tragic optimism does not seeking out or romanticizing . Not everything has to be meaningful; sometimes things just suck. Rather, tragic optimism the inevitability of but also that we generally have at some say in how we it.
Difficult moments, both and collective, often to extreme behaviors: what’s now known as on the one hand — our heads in the and deluding ourselves that everything is great — or excessive pessimism and despair on the other. Both absolve us of doing anything about the .
Excessive optimism and delusion, at , deny that anything is wrong; and if nothing is wrong, there is nothing to worry about and nothing to change. Extreme pessimism and despair are so grim they say that any action would be pointless. Between these two poles a third way: committing to hope and action.
Wise hope and action ask us to a and see it for what it is, and then muster the , and resolve to on what we can . We ourselves that we have challenges before. We because to stand still is not an option.
Recognising that we fuels hope, and hope us that we have .
Resilience comes down to a few core : into , being kind to yourself, finding small routines to your health, allowing yourself to feel sadness and and yet hope at the same time. It a commitment to taking productive action.
At a moment when it can that all is , we’d be to embrace tragic optimism, hope and action. In this we recognise we can exert our , if limitedly, if only in increments, however we can. These and , and our willingness to adopt and them, are to not only our resilience but that of our . We need both now.