The Future We Choose: Surviving the Climate Crisis

by Christiana Figueres

Anger that sinks into despair is powerless to make a change. Anger that evolves into conviction is unstoppable.

In other words, optimism is the force that enables you to create a new reality.

Optimism is not soft, it is gritty. Every day brings dark news, and no end of people tell us that the world is going to hell. To take the low road is to succumb. To take the high road is to remain constant in the face of uncertainty.

It starts with our own way of thinking about the challenge, our determined attitude, and our capacity to infect others with the same conviction, no matter how challenging that is. That is stubborn optimism.

Focus on where you’re going, not on where you’ve been. Cultivate your constructive vision for the future and hold on to it, come what may. When you can see where you’re going, you won’t be so afraid of losing your grip on the past.

Stubborn optimism needs to motivate you daily; you always need to bear in mind why you feel the future is worth fighting for.