Staying hopeful when confronted with incessant negative news

I meet many people who have lost hope – lost hope for themselves, for their lives, their families, their communities, for humanity itself.

And I empathise. People are confronted with so much adversity and trauma, inequality and injustice. Not to forget the systematic breaking down of many of the services that support and benefit people. Or the relentless destruction of Mother Nature and ruthless exploitation of her resources and people.

In the media; climate crisis, poverty, violence, war, suffering, fear… we are incessantly and aggressively bombarded with the things going wrong in our world. 

It’s a lot to worry about, and it can be completely and utterly disheartening.

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But please, don’t lose hope – for your sake and for the sake of the world.

Without hope, we stop trying, we stop fighting, we give up.

Consider everything that has been achieved by people; the fight for rights and freedoms that everyone in the world should be entitled to, the abolition of slavery and criminalisation of human trafficking, legislation against discrimination and child labour, advances in the protection of the environment and moving towards a more sustainable way of life, and so on.

There’s still a long way to go, but the progress is undeniable and significant.

Now imagine for a moment that those who fought for these changes had lost hope. Imagine if Martin Luther King, Emmeline Pankhurst, or Barbara Gittings had given up on their dreams of change.

Where would we be now?

I believe that we’d likely still be without many of the rights and resources we now take for granted.

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Hope might seem trivial or pointless or idealistic. But I think it’s a powerful driving force in opening the way to new possibilities, creating change, and progressing towards a better world.

And if there’s one thing I’ve become absolutely convinced of, it’s that change is always possible… and that humans are a particularly malleable and adaptable species.

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How can we stay hopeful and manage our worry without becoming overwhelmed by the uncertainty and despair in the world?

Firstly, seeing that change is not only possible, but that we, as individuals, have the power to guide and shape it, helps me to remain hopeful.

Secondly, remember that the media has a bias towards reporting negative news. Personally, I manage this in two ways; by following positive news sources to try to get more of a balanced perspective, and by limiting the time I attend to the news. I think it’s important to know what’s going on in the world, but that doesn’t mean I need to spend every moment of the day discovering what new disasters have befallen us. I think it’s important to be able to detach from the news at times, and bring your focus back to yourself and what you have control of.

Thirdly, managing worry can help prevent you from feeling overwhelmed by negativity. Perhaps it seems a bit simplistic, but it helps to not worry about EVERYTHING.

By this I mean we all have things we are concerned about and things we don’t care so much about. Focus on the things you do care about and that you find important; the things that reflect your values. Let go of the rest. Let other people worry about what they are concerned about, and focus just on what you are concerned about.

Taking this a step further, of all the things we are concerned about, there are some things we can do something about, and other things that are outside of our control. Focus on the things you can do something about.

We have control over our decisions, our words, our actions. By focusing on what we have control over, we take responsibility for ourselves and empower ourselves to shape the change in our lives.

We can also influence some things, without having complete control over them; things like our health, the wellbeing of our family and friends, some community issues, or even some global issues.

For instance, by eating healthily and exercising regularly, I can have a positive influence on my health and wellbeing. I don’t have complete control, because many factors outside of my control affect my health as well. But the aspects that are under my control are my responsibility and it’s within my power to change them.

I can influence the wellbeing of people around me, by being kind and supportive, by modeling healthy habits, etc. But their wellbeing is not under my control. It can be frustrating, dismaying, or infuriating to see someone I care about make “poor” choices, but I can’t take responsibility for them. I have to accept their choices and respect their autonomy to make their own decisions.

I can influence community or global issues, by supporting sustainable businesses, challenging discrimination, advocating for positive change, protesting, and so on. But I have to accept that these things are not under my complete control and I have to be realistic about the impact I can make with my actions.

I believe that change on a wider scale begins with change on an individual level.

By focusing on the things we care about and can do something about, we can see the power we have as individuals to create and shape change, firstly in our own lives, but also, by ripple effect, affecting those around us, our community, and potentially the world.

As for the things that you can’t control or influence, try not to worry about them. I know that’s easier said than done, but there’s plenty to worry about that you can do something about without getting bogged down by all the rest as well. If you find yourself worrying about things you can’t do anything about, it can be helpful to distract yourself with something you can do something about.

Check out the Worry Tree if you want a tool to help with this.

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