Headline, December 06 2024/ ''' TRAGIC OPTIMISM TRAILS '''

 

''' TRAGIC OPTIMISM

 TRAILS '''

FROM THE WORLD OVER - Leaders, Grandparents, Parents, Students, Professors and Teachers tell me that '' The World Students Society '' - the exclusive and eternal ownership of every student - has made the world SWOON.

Almighty God Forbid But Remember : WHEN ALL SEEMS LOST - '' CHOOSE WISE HOPE AND WISE ACTION.'' On the world scene, it can feel like we are stymied in growth, in hope, in vigor.  

But every path of progress - both individual and collective - includes failures and downturns, even periods of hopelessness. In the immediate aftermath of any major disappointment and disorder, it is understandable to freeze or shutdown. 

But eventually, we've got to rise up and move forward - if for no other reason than the alternative is worse.

Finding meaning and maintaining hope despite inevitable pain, loss and suffering is a crucial life skill. In 1949, the Holocaust survivor and psychologist Victor Frankl coined the term '' tragic optimism '' to describe this conundrum.

TRAGIC OPTIMISM emerged out of what Dr Frankle observed as to be the three tragedies that everyone faces [ not only those of us who have seen the worst in the world, as he had ]. 

The first tragedy is pain, because we are made of flesh and bone. The second is guilt, because we have the freedom to make choices and thus feel responsible when things don't go our way. The third is loss, because we must face the reality that everything we cherish is impermanent, including our own lives.

Tragic optimism means acknowledging, accepting and even expecting that life will contain hardship and hurt, then doing everything we can to move forward with a positive attitude anyway.

It recognizes that one cannot be happy by trying to be happy all the time, or worse yet, assuming we ought to be.

Rather, tragic optimism holds space for the full range of human experience and emotion, giving us permission to feel happiness and sadness, hope and fear, loss and possibility - sometimes in the same day, and even in the same hour.

Research shows that this sort of emotional flexibility is associated with resilience.

For example, a study of U.S. college students after Sept 11 found that those who could hold on to hope at the same time as loss demonstrated greater resilience and fewer depressive symptoms in the tragedy's aftermath.

This finding is not about denial or delusion. Most of the study participants experienced negative emotions such as anger, fear and sadness. It's just that the more resilient ones were able to hold on to positive emotions, too.

Tragic optimism does not encourage actively seeking out or romanticizing suffering. Not everything has to be meaningful; sometimes things just suck.

Rather, tragic optimism realizes the inevitability of suffering but also that we generally have at least some say in how we face it.

Difficult moments, both personal and collective, often lead to extreme behaviours : what is now known as toxic positivity on the one hand - burying our heads in the sand and deluding ourselves that everything is great - or excessive pessimism and despair on the other.

Both absolves us of doing anything about the situation. So, remember, '' Tragic Optimism '' can be a balm for trying times ahead.

The Honour and Serving of the Latest Global Operational Research on Great Writings, continues. The World Students Society thanks Brad Stulberg for his opinion.

With most loving and respectful dedication to Mankind, Global Founder Framers of !WOW! and then Students, Professors and Teachers of the world.

See You all prepare for Great Global Elections on The World Students Society - for every subject in the world - : wssciw.blogspot.com and Twitter X !E-WOW! - The Ecosystem 2011 :

Good Night and God Bless

SAM Daily Times - the Voice of the Voiceless