Pat Taub
A group of elderly Jews gather each day to talk politics. One day, one of them announces:
“You know what? I am an optimist!”
The others are shocked, but one of them asks: “Wait a minute! If you’re an optimist, why do you look so worried?”
“You think it’s easy being an optimist?“
Taking a cue from the elderly Jew in the joke, my New Year’s resolution for 2021 is to work on being optimistic, and like the old man in the joke, I recognize it won’t be easy. I’m hoping, by adopting just one resolution, I will have a better chance of succeeding than if I try to follow a long self-improvement list.
Here’s my plan: Start each day expressing gratitude for simple events, which I take for granted, like thanking the sun spilling into my living room. Schedule one thing for the day ahead that makes me happy, like facetiming with my teen granddaughter, opening a new book, or trying out a new recipe.
No matter how hard I try to be optimistic, the Covid blues are bound to visit, for which my strategy is to face them, adhering to the Buddhist precept that letting troubling feelings in allows them to dissipate quicker than sweeping them under the rug.
Yours truly being visited by the Covid Blues
My strategy is to limit my worry time to 30 minutes after which, I’ll shift my focus by emailing a friend, returning to some unfinished writing, or doing Pilates in my living room. I may have to repeat this practice more than once a day, but it promises to keep me from getting stuck in negative thoughts.
I don’t want to regiment my feelings to the extent that there isn’t room for the unexpected or even magic. This involves seeing with new eyes when I take a walk or have a conversation with a friend or relative. Being open to the new drives away the blues.
I always like adding a playful element to whatever problem faces me. In this respect, having been inspired by Woody Guthrie’s song, “Hoping Machine,” I’m creating a Hope Box for when optimism is out of reach. When I open it I will find silly jokes, photos of the grands, inspiring quotes, etc. along with contact numbers for friends and family who need cheering up. Reaching out to support another brightens my world.
Individuals who follow their passions never seem to run out of optimism. Examples are: teen climate activist, Greta Thumberg; Angela Davis, who always seems to find hope in her struggles for racial justice; Cori Booker, the new Congresswoman from Michigan, who projects an unstoppable belief in progressive politics. Similarly, I’m dreaming about an exciting new endeavor for 2021.
Angela Davis, with a long career working for racial justice, remains optimistic, despite setbacks.
I find inspiration too in everyday people, like the elderly activists in my hometown of Portland, Maine, who never seem to give up, even when the odds are against them. Some have been joining peace protests for over 50 years!
Dorothy, an elder peace worker, Portland, Maine
I draw inspiration from the Suffragettes who, long before mass communication, organized women from coast to coast to lobby for the women’s vote. In 2021, I want to join with the new breed of Suffragettes, not just “The Squad,” but women in my community and across the nation, working for a more egalitarian politics than what we have at present.
In an era before mass communications the Suffragettes marched to recruit women to join their protests
Mary Oliver’s words fuel my optimism:
When it is over, I don’t want to wonder
if I have made of my life something particular, and real.
I don’t want to find myself sighing and frightened,
or full of argument.
I don’t want to end up simply having visited this world.
