Ellen Besso Coaching

You’ve heard it before…we have a choice about how we view our life and the events that take place around us. This is a generallization, but from  comments I sometimes hear, many people seem to think the world is going to hell in a hand basket. No one can deny that there is much suffering in the world, that the world economy is struggling, or that there has been an inordinate number of violent acts of nature in the recent past, resulting in death and homelessness for people all over the world.

Still, there are many, many good things happening. People of all ages are living their lives in encouraging ways, showing by their positive philosophy and kindness to others, their concern for the planet’s well being, that something new is emerging. My friend attended the Vancouver version of the “Occupy Wall Street” protest on Saturday outside the Vancouver Art Gallery; it’s meant to show the government that the public is tired of so few corporations (and people), holding so much of the wealth and power in Western nations.  My friend wrote that she was so proud of the young people, and when I gave the matter some thought, I realized what a great job they’re doing at stepping up to make their voices heard.

Dan Gardner wrote an article in the Saturday Vancouver Sun entitled “Attached to our pessimism”. The tagline was “We are the wealthiest and healthiest people who ever lived, but we are loath to admit humanity has progressed.” In his article Gardner asks why people won’t at least consider the possibility that their pessimism is wrong, when so much data shows otherwise.

The author goes on to say that some people are startled and want to hear more when they learn that homicide rates, war, torture, slavery, terrorism, cruelty to animals and other forms of violence have declined significantly. Others say “yes, but…” (one of the games in the old “Transactional Analysis Therapy” – remember “I’m okay, you’re okay”?). Others flatly reject the claim as absurd.

Several theories about why people react this way have been put forward by Gardner and another author, Steven Pinker, such as when we acknowledge progress it makes us complacent, we have a negative bias against civilization, modernity and Western society, we’re much more morally repulsed by violence now – and we’re surrounded by constant media reports about it. But perhaps most importantly, is a tested theory  many of us have heard about – when we believe something to be true, we don’t check out our beliefs about the subject, we grab onto whatever supports them.

Whatever, the reasons for our sometimes tendency towards half full cups, I think it’s something to be aware of as we go through our days.