The Death of Optimism?

This morning, a headline from a story from NBC news caught my eye:

Fauci says U.S. must “hunker down” for Fall and Winter

Then the money quote in the first paragraph of the story:

“ Don’t ever, ever underestimate the potential of the pandemic. And don’t try to look at the rosy side of things.”

Somewhere, Norman Vincent Peale is rolling over in his grave.

Apparently, the Era of Optimism is officially over, the power of positive thinking, a thing of the past. All those corny songs from the old days about Accentuating the Positive and walking on the sunny side of the street are relics from a bygone era. Today is all about sober acceptance of the worst case scenarios of life.

Look...I get it. Constantly downplaying the seriousness of COVID is foolish. Breezily dismissing the deaths of nearly 200,000 Americans as some sort of hoax is ignorant and dangerous. But, my experience of 62 years informs me that things seldom if ever turn out as bad as predicted. Maybe this will be the exception, but better than expected outcomes have had an astonishing record of dependability for most of my life. So, with all due respect to Dr. Fauci, I will take COVID seriously, but I will not succumb to pessimistic acceptance of the inevitability of the “potential” of this pandemic. There’s another potential at play here, Doc, and that’s the potential of a vaccine, the potential of better outcomes than the models have suggested. If I have to make a bet on which potential wins, I’ll put my money and my energy on...success, not failure.

The Fall and Winter might very well be dark. But if all of us give ourselves over to the inevitability of the darkness, we guarantee its arrival.

Wear your mask. Wash your hands. Be considerate of others. Practice Social distancing. But remain positive and optimistic as the weather turns colder. Reject pessimism. Hold on fast to hope.