Rural Routes, Blog Version

My husband and I are on opposite sides of the glass half-full/glass half-empty debate.

I am a ‘glass half-full’ person; he says ‘glass half empty’.

He denies, however, that this makes him a pessimist.

“I am a realist,” he says.

We debate about that issue, too. I think even realists can be optimistic.

I am reminded of a T-shirt that I once bought as a gift for a family member. Emblazoned on the front of the shirt were the words:

Some say

“The glass is half-empty”

Some say

“The glass is half-full”

I say

“Who the hell’s been drinking my wine?”

(Fact check:  The T-shirt actually said ‘beer’, not ‘wine’.  But I prefer wine, so I used some writer’s license)

I have been thinking about the optimism/pessimism issue ever since reading “The Book of Hope: A Survival Guide for Trying Times” by Jane Goodall and Doug Abrams with Gail Hudson (Celedon Books, 2021)

Goodall is the world-renowned naturalist who has taught the world so much through her work with chimpanzees.

The book is the second in a series by Douglas Abrams, whose “The Book of Joy” with the Dalai Lama and Archbishop Desmond Tutu was a New York Times bestseller in 2016.

At 87, Goodall has seen much in both the animal and human worlds. What she has seen reinforces her belief that we can overcome all manner of obstacles – COVID-19 and climate crises, for example – for four main reasons:

• the human intellect,
• the resilience of nature,
• the power of young people and
• the indomitable human spirit.

The book is an easy and quick read. At times I thought it lacked depth. But since turning the last page, my thoughts have gone very deep indeed.

The British poet Alexander Pope wrote:

“Hope springs eternal in the human breast:

Man never is, but always to be, blest “

Pope, who lived from 1688-1744 (God bless Google), wrote these words almost 400 years ago. They’re still as true today as they were four centuries before he wrote them. Hope by its very nature lives in our tomorrows.

At the back of the book, there is an appendix of scientific references that the reader is invited to pursue for further information.

Scientific studies suggest, for example, that optimists do better academically, are in better health and live longer lives than pessimists.

Optimism can be a synonym for hope.

Goodall says that hope is part of resilience and it is a necessary survival tool for difficult times.

The thing about hope, she says, is that it activates that ‘indomitable spirit” that can effect change. Hope enables; despair cripples.

In my work life, I have often talked about building resilience in children and suddenly in my mind that includes modeling hope as a valuable life skill.

In dark times, that can be a challenge, but Goodall says in hope lies our survival.

Give me my glass of wine and I will drink to that.

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