4 Ways to Stay Positive in a Negative World By Marianne Elliott

A friend asked me: “How do you stay optimistic when the world seems to be going so badly?” It’s a question I’ve asked myself. How can I continue to believe in goodness, when there is so much evil in the world? How can I be happy when my friends are suffering? For two years I worked in Afghanistan, witnessing a seemingly endless parade of human suffering an injustice. One day I asked an Afghan colleague how he could keep believing things would improve, when the signs seemed so bad.

“What choice do I have?” he replied. “I don’t know what the future holds. So why not believe it will get better? It motivates me to keep working and makes my life bearable.” After the 9/11 attacks a young boy asked his grandfather what would happen to the world. The grandfather said there were two wolves fighting inside his heart. One was vengeful and full of anger, ready to strike out against the ‘enemy’. The other wolf was filled with love and belief in the basic goodness of all, ready to seek peace. The grandson asked, “Which wolf will win the fight?” His grandfather answered, “The one I choose to feed.”

In Afghanistan I was very aware of the two wolves in my heart. One was angry and defeated by endless suffering and violence, ready to give up. I didn’t want that wolf to win. But how do we feed the right wolf? Here are four ways to stay positive in a negative world.

Marianne Elliott is an acclaimed author, human rights advocate and yoga teacher who writes and teaches on creating, developing and sustaining real change in personal life, work and the world. She is the creator of the popular 30 Days of Yoga courses and author of Zen Under Fire, a memoir about doing good and being well in war-torn Afghanistan.