Our country’s future

These are difficult times with wide-ranging national (and international) challenges including: inflation and economic disparities; high costs of health care, child care and housing; growing national debt; climate change; immigration issues; racism and antisemitism; urban-rural divide; distrust of government and other institutions; uncertainty about the impact of artificial intelligence; and war and political unrest in the Middle East, Ukraine and other parts of the world.

If that list was not enough, there is also: growing distrust of fellow citizens; declines in kindness, respect, humility and how we treat others; and political polarization.

This is a lot to be worried about, and it can feel pretty overwhelming. Is there anything we can realistically do to make things better?

I believe positive change is possible, especially by starting with the shorter second list. We can each begin with ourself and how we engage with others, especially with people who might have different opinions. We can resist making assumptions about others and putting people in boxes. People think and vote the way they do for any number of reasons, and every person is an individual with their own needs and aspirations.

Benjamin Franklin once said, “No one cares what you know until they know that you care!”  Historian Doris Kearns Goodwin offers this perspective reflecting on her book “An Unfinished Love Story, A Personal History of the 1960s”: “America has been at odds with itself before. I’ve been drawn to such turbulent times — the Civil War, the Industrial Revolution, World War II. … ‘The end of our country has loomed many times before,’ my husband often reminded me, ‘America is not as fragile as it seems.’”

America is not as fragile as it seems is a hopeful message, but it is up to us to live and embrace it. If we don’t like what we see, we can act with a hopeful spirit. Author Thomas Friedman has written: “Pessimists are usually right and optimists are usually wrong, but all the great changes have been accomplished by optimists.”

But hope is possible without being optimistic. Yuval Levin, the author of “American Covenant: How the Constitution Unified Our Nation ― and Could Again” explains: “Optimism and pessimism are both dangerous vices, because they are both invitations to passivity. Hope is a virtue, and so it sits between those vices. It tells us that things could go well and invites us to take action that might help make that happen and might make us worthy of it happening. It does not deny the obvious potential for calamity that always casts a shadow over our future, but it holds out the possibility of light and grace.”

Finding ways to connect with others can create light and grace, helping to build more hope. I know from my volunteer work that, when you bring people together with strong political views (and set ground rules that ensure respectful discussion), they agree on much more than they expected at the start. This can seem incredibly hopeful. For example, at the end of a Braver Angels workshop to find common ground on trustworthy elections, one participant commented, “We agreed on more things that I would have thought, and people in this room were hungry.”

People are hungry for something better, and we can each model a better way. Embracing positive change is fundamental to growing as a person, and you can make our country better, too. “Once you choose hope, anything’s possible,” adds actor Christopher Reeve.

Our book, “Beyond the Politics of Contempt Practical Steps to Build Positive Relationships in Divided Time,” to be published this summer, offers concrete ideas to better our lives and country. We can each act in ways that build a nation with more trust, kindness, respect and humility. Building this spirit can create an environment for addressing the longer list of challenges.

Being stressed about politics is increasingly common these days, so it is important to take care of your mental health and focus on healthy habits, stay socially connected and do things that bring you joy. Ongoing self-reflection, including a deep understanding of how your actions and behavior impact others, can be coupled with a commitment to ongoing personal development and relationship building.

We each have an extraordinary opportunity to make a difference in people’s lives, including our own. Don’t underestimate your impact!

Douglass P. Teschner, founder of Growing Leadership LLC, can be reached at dteschner@GrowingLeadershipLLC.com.