Anybody who has read my blog postings knows I am an optimistic guy. When my view of the world becomes troubled it’s usually because I’ve been watching the news. On one hand, it’s good to know what goes on in our ever smaller world where we are so connected. On the other hand, too much preoccupation with events in far-away corners of the world can distract us from doing the good that we can do in our own neighborhoods.

I was watching BBC News last night and noticed how many pockets of unrest and violence there are around the globe. There’s also the lingering concern over the state of the world’s economy. And there has now been an earthquake in Turkey to follow the devastation in Chile and Haiti. What are we to think? Some have an apocalyptic view of these occurrences. A more scientific view would say that these are normal cycles of political, economic, and geological events. 

What do we conclude? Our planet is beautiful, but it is alive. It has always held both wonders and dangers. We must be prepared for natural catastrophes. We, the people, are prone to both wondrous acts of creativity and kindness while still capable of irrational and inhumane treatment of one another. Life turns out to be all about opposites: light vs. darkness, health vs. sickness, peace vs. war, optimism vs. pessimism. Where there are opposites, we have the opportunity to choose that which uplifts versus that which breeds fear and contention. We have the opportunity to turn a blind eye or to lend assistance to those in need. And, there is always something to learn from adversity and almost always an opportunity to turn opposition into innovation when we put aside pride, anger, and selfishness. Is this being too optimistic? It’s not easy to do. It’s better than the alternative.