What happens in our life doesn’t care about our feelings. Why not being positive?

Common access to information today allows us to be aware of what is happening in the world. The news mostly tends to report dramatic and negative events. It is because I think as human-beings, we are more drawn into negative occurrences than positive ones. Unfortunately, the more negativity is reported and consumed, the more likely we are to be pessimistic about the world, our values and future.

Watching the American politics closely reveals quite a lot about our less desirable side as human-beings. I said it because I am living here in the US and I am from Vietnam, but it can happen anywhere in the world. We individually just don’t have all the time to read all the news. Surrounded by all the negativity on the media, it’s easy to fall into pessimism and cynicism. Personally, I have heard in real life and read online so many times people voice their much less optimistic view about the future, their belief that the more we advance, the worse we are as a whole.

Such pessimism is justified to some extent. With a few strokes, somebody can destroy a city or country with nuclear weapons. With a few clicks, some hackers can take away all livelihood earned and saved over the years from hard-working folks. Climate change is hitting us hard with so many catastrophes not only here in the US, but also around the world. For good measure, there are a lot going on in the society for which there doesn’t seem to be a good way out.

But the world we live in is great as well. A student from Vietnam can call his parents every week, talk to them and see their faces (that student right here) instead of weeks or months of sending letters.

We have access to wisdom and knowledge at our finger tips. In the past, we might not even know some resources existed, let alone studying them. In our modern world, we can learn anything. Resources aren’t rare. The will to learn is.

A lot of diseases which would have been fatal some decades ago are now cured. Living conditions in developing countries have been dramatically improved by the generosity and kindness of hundreds of people. I deeply appreciate all the countries that help Vietnam and other developing nations

Whatever happens in life will happen whether we are pessimistic or optimistic. Why not taking the more positive side? We need as much help as possible in difficult situations. We have all been there and will continue to be. Why not using a free and powerful resource at our disposal?

It does require practice to get comfortable with optimism, especially in dire situations. And it won’t guarantee a desirable income. But speaking from a personal experience as an immigrant student working here two part-time jobs, maxing out academic terms every semester and not knowing the future under this administration, I can say positive thinking does help me a lot.