I'm doing what I was made to do―and I've got a feeling I'm going to do it even better this time.
― Capt. Billy Tyne
You know the drill.
Fortunately, all of my colleagues are sensible people with emotional and financial reserves, so there's no hint of "talking them off the ledge."
But I can imagine there are people who are making desperate calls―or none at all.
In fact, suicide-prevention experts are worried the Great Shutdown will trigger a spike in unattributed deaths.
In fact, suicide-prevention experts are worried the Great Shutdown will trigger a spike in unattributed deaths.
The difference between the sensible and the suicidal is hope. Behavioral scientists have correlated hope with coping.
In my opinion, people find hope in one of three places.
Some people find hope in belief in a savoir; others, in substance abuse; still others, in sheer will.
Some people find hope in belief in a savoir; others, in substance abuse; still others, in sheer will.
The philosopher and psychologist Eric Fromm thought hope was the evolutionary counterweight to our acquaintance with finitude.
Unlike the other animals, Fromm said, we are self-aware; and the price we pay for that awareness is insecurity.
Unlike the other animals, Fromm said, we are self-aware; and the price we pay for that awareness is insecurity.
"How can a sensitive and alive person ever feel secure?" Fromm wrote.
"Just as a sensitive and alive person cannot avoid being sad, he cannot avoid feeling insecure. The psychic task which a person can and must set for himself, is not to feel secure, but to be able to tolerate insecurity, without panic and undue fear."
"Just as a sensitive and alive person cannot avoid being sad, he cannot avoid feeling insecure. The psychic task which a person can and must set for himself, is not to feel secure, but to be able to tolerate insecurity, without panic and undue fear."
Why aren't my colleagues hobbled by insecurity?
What makes them hopeful?
A team of behavioral researchers in the UK think they've found the answer: self-esteem.
In four different studies, the researchers separated respondents into two groups: those who tested positive for high self-esteem, and those who tested positive for low self-esteem.
They then asked them to write about death.
The researchers found that people in the first group felt very little after the exercise, while the people in the second group felt hopeless.
I've also noticed my colleagues aren't only hopeful; they're thinking of others.
Who's depending on them to come through?
How can they help customers?
Can they find in this mess an opportunity to contribute more to society than they have in the past?
The nuns taught me back in Catechism class that hope is a virtue that aspires to "the to happiness which God has placed in the heart of every man."
What makes them hopeful?
A team of behavioral researchers in the UK think they've found the answer: self-esteem.
In four different studies, the researchers separated respondents into two groups: those who tested positive for high self-esteem, and those who tested positive for low self-esteem.
They then asked them to write about death.
The researchers found that people in the first group felt very little after the exercise, while the people in the second group felt hopeless.
I've also noticed my colleagues aren't only hopeful; they're thinking of others.
Who's depending on them to come through?
How can they help customers?
Can they find in this mess an opportunity to contribute more to society than they have in the past?
The nuns taught me back in Catechism class that hope is a virtue that aspires to "the to happiness which God has placed in the heart of every man."
Hope is life-preserver.
"Buoyed up by hope," the Catechism says, "man is preserved from selfishness and led to the happiness that flows from charity."
The nuns had that right.
Stay well.
The nuns had that right.
Stay well.
