By Laura Finley, Published in: Grass Roots Press, January 16 2015

Hackers target 19,000 French websites after extremists rampage leaving 17 dead. Two people are killed as police thwart a terror attack in Belgium. Former Detroit Rotary Club president gets life sentence for arranging the murder of his wife. Twenty Mexican state officials are being investigated for covering up threats and torture of witnesses to alleged extrajudicial killings. These are all stories in my local newspaper today.

It is easy to get depressed about all that is wrong in the world, to feel as though we are doomed. Yet many do indeed remain hopeful that a more peaceful world is possible. Too often, those of us who keep a more sunny outlook are dubbed simplistic or even silly…a bunch of hippies holding hands and singing Kumbaya. Research in psychology and sociology shows, however, that hope is more than naïve optimism. It is perhaps the most important part of actualizing our goals, be they personal or collective.

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