Are you optimistic?

Happy Sunday,

“I know how to make do with little, and I know how to make do with a lot. In any and all circumstances I have learned the secret of being content—whether well fed or hungry, whether in abundance or in need.”

Philippians 4:12

Are you optimistic about the future?
In my day-to-day life, I’m an optimist. I naturally move past bad news quickly, am rarely anxious, and am excited for opportunities ahead. Still, I’ll admit to often being concerned about the state and direction of the world overall.

And it turns out I’m not alone.

That combo has (apparently) been true for most people regardless of where or when they lived. Psychologists refer to it as “individual optimism and social pessimism.” 

Surveys consistently show, decade after decade, that most people think their nation and the world are getting worse. And yet, by almost every macro measure… things have been improving for decades. Don’t believe me? Here are some wild facts about life in the U.S.:

• In 1900, the infant mortality rate was 16.5%. Today, it’s 0.56%.

• In the last 100 years, poverty rates have fallen from ~60% to 11%.

• Violent crime has fallen by almost 50% in the past 30 years.

I was reflecting on how, given the data, I should probably be more socially optimistic when I realized that I’d fallen into the same trap I actively warn against: I was too zoomed in. 

I can celebrate progress, but my outlook shouldn’t be based on whether things will improve or worsen over the next few decades if I believe in eternity. Any hope or fear I have for this present age should be dwarfed by my confidence that eternity will be perfect. I should be joyful, hopeful, and calm no matter what happens on Earth… because even if everything goes wrong in my lifetime, “the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is going to be revealed to us.” (Romans 8:18)

What do you think?
Jason

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