Thoughts on Hope from Dr. Bracco

Too often nowadays when I watch newscasts I am overwhelmed by the negativity, cynicism, mean-spiritedness and pessimism reflected in the content. As I flip from channel to channel I am amazed that the same stories are being broadcast almost at the same exact moments. The stories would have you believe that the glass is not even half empty, it is virtually drained. I find myself caught in a vise of negative emotions feeling anxious and full of despair. I wonder how these myopic presentations affect others.

How often are we bombarded with warning signs that tell us the world is a dangerous place? Frequently, even the weather report is made to sound ominous and foreboding. We are in a constant state of storm warnings that have turned the cleansing rain of a thunderstorm into a deluge of fear.

What are the cumulative effects of the onslaught of continuous stress on us as people? I can only imagine the constant flow of adrenaline we are exposed to which leads us to states of hypersensitivity or numbness. Karen Horney, a contemporary of Freud, defined anxiety as a "feeling of being lost and alone in a potentially hostile environment." We must be experiencing states of super anxiety since we are exposed to messages that tell us we are in a constantly hostile environment. I can feel the rush of adrenaline and the pressure building within me and then I force myself to pull back from the brink recognizing that what I am reacting to is the myopic characterizations that are being placed before me.

I become mindful once again of the words of FDR "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself." and mindful of the wisdom of Howard Zinn, a social activist and historian who recently passed away on January 27th 2010. In his book "A Power Governments Cannot Suppress" Zinn wrote:

"If we see only the worst, it destroys our capacity to do something. If we remember those times and places-and there are so many-where people have behaved magnificently, it energizes us to act, and raises at least the possibility of sending this spinning top of a world in a different direction. And if we do act, in however small a way, we don't have to wait for some grand utopian future. The future is an infinite succession of presents, and to live now as we think human beings should live, in defiance of all that is bad around us, is itself a marvelous victory."

I open my eyes more fully and I can see the resilience of the people of Haiti following the devastation caused by an earthquake. I can see the coming together of others with their outpouring of help. I can see courage, strength, generosity, hope. While the world may have its dangers I recognize that we as human beings have the competence to cope with them and the ability to fashion the world as we would like it. So in spite of the economy, weather, violence, political corruption, and the empty glass there is hope.