Positivity

I'm taking this blog in a different direction this week, there is still very little going on at the shelter right now, other than what I have already talked about previously, so instead I want to discuss something that has been on my mind for a while now, optimism.

Optimism is a topic that I have been thinking a lot about since I saw a quote on tumblr a few months ago that said “There are a tremendous amount of things to be optimistic about”. To my surprise it was a quote by Hank Green, the brother of my favourite author and a vlogger that I regularly watch on Youtube.

I like to think that I am an optimistic person, and I agree with Hank there are a great many things for humans to be optimistic about. I believe, however that the problem is that we are fed so much bad news, we no longer know how to be optimistic. The media likes to focus on the depressing and on the disasters in the world. Disasters can be quantified using statistics. This many people have died in a terrorist attack, this many people have been injured in an explosion, this species will be extinct by this year e.t.c. It is easy to see the negatives when they are presented to us in numbers or easily understandable measurements. However a scientific breakthrough that could lead to the cure for a terrible disease or a new development that could improve the lives of many has no tangible proof of it's overall effects until the finished product has been released in the future. It is all conjecture until that point, and it can be hard for some to get excited about mere speculation. I can understand the reason why society focuses on the identifiable disasters rather than rejoicing in the positives that are yet to occur, because it is simply easier that way.

So even though business at the shelter is pretty slow right now, and the work is repetitive and can get somewhat boring, to echo Hank, I have so much to be positive and happy about. I am in Canada, living in one of the most beautiful areas I have ever seen (I promise, I am working on getting some pictures up!). I get to bottle feed baby moose, stroke a European lynx and work with many other incredible animals. I am living with an extremely lovely and welcoming family who never fail to make me laugh. I am going to be taught how to ride and take care of horses, and go on trail rides and I get to zoom around the countryside on a quad bike, which I don't think I will ever get tired of, it's that much fun. Honestly, right now I feel like the luckiest girl in the world and have no reason to complain about the lack of bears. If they arrive later on in the year, brilliant. If not then I can be happy knowing that they are healthy enough not to need our help, which can only be a good thing.