An Astronaut's Guide to Optimism

We're all moving so fast,
just standing on the equator

with the world spinning underneath us.

We're all going over a thousand
miles an hour.

What if, just for a moment,

we stopped?

There are problems with everything,
and nothing's yet perfect,

but that shouldn't be cause to bemoan.

That should be cause to achieve.

Our world is a better place than we
often claim it to be.

We're living in an all-time high for
health and wellness

and literacy has been sharply
on the rise for decades.

More people are living longer,
and during childbirth

both infant and maternal mortality rates
have plummeted in the last century

saving the lives of millions.

We've seen a host of horrific
diseases completely eradicated,

and there are many more for which
eradication is underway.

We live the way we do because people chose

to tackle their problems head-on.

In a hundred years we've gone
from filming the Wright brothers

to landing a camera on Titan. a
moon 800 million miles away.

There are a growing number of
organizations and foundations

leading the way to research,
innovate, and effect
change in the world.

And partnering together, they're
helping the world's poorest people

lift themselves out of hunger
and poverty.

When thinking if you're going to be
optimistic this year, remember:

nobody changes the world on their own.

It all starts with a resolution.

What's yours?