I’m Angry! Can I Still Be An Optimist?

How to turn anger into optimism and use it as your superpower!

I had planned to make this week about anger, and considering this past weekend’s protests around the United States (and the world), it feels fitting, to say the least.

People are angry right now, and for good reasons. But I’m asked almost daily: Can we still be optimistic about climate change? And how?

There’s often a misconception about anger. My TEDx talk - From Angry Activist to Climate Optimist - might give the impression that optimism doesn’t hold space for anger, that it’s a “journey” worth aspiring to, a release of a hold pulling us back.

However, although my core mission with The Climate Optimist is to help us shift the narrative on climate change so that we can act from courage and excitement, not anger and fear, let’s not confuse anger as something inherently bad.

How to Turn Anger Into Optimism

What we need to remember, first of all, is that optimism isn’t a mindset or an attitude; it’s a practice.

What I mean by that is that optimism isn’t something you choose; it’s what you create.

For one, it encapsulates a lot of things, like positive thinking, trust, vision, and imagination. It can also serve as your superpower if you let it: Optimism helps fuel creativity, problem-solving, and connection.

Furthermore, when we prime ourselves with a positive mindset, a follow-up response will be triggered in the parts of our brain where self-reflection and recollection happen if we are faced with a wrong answer.

This means that if we are optimistic about our ability to achieve something, we will be able to course-correct and find new answers when things get hard.

This is super important to understand!

If we instead believe that we don’t have a chance, no such follow-up response will be triggered, leaving us feeling “proven to” that we were right — that we can’t figure this out!

So, in simple terms, we need optimism to fuel us now more than ever. But that doesn’t mean there’s no room to be angry. By all means - get really f.ing pissed! And learn how to use it as your superpower.

Here’s how you do that.

Photo by Corey Young on Unsplash

Make Anger Your Superpower

• Start by taking control of your anger instead of letting it take control over you.

• Tip #1: Physically move your body and visualize how your anger moves from your head and chest down into your legs. Now, you’ve become grounded in your anger, and you can use that power to your advantage.

• Tip #2: Write down what you’re angry about and read it out loud. Let yourself feel what comes through — embody your anger. Don’t fear your feelings, they can serve you if you let them.

• Then, from a calm and grounded place, think about how to use this anger for good. How can you show up right now and speak your resistance?

Get active!

Connect with people around you, organize, talk to your local representatives, and support organizations standing up for what they believe in and protecting what’s left. Figure out where you want to funnel your anger and TAKE ACTION – that action will automatically translate into optimism and continue to fuel you in your work.

This is NOT a time to give up. This is a time to get serious about the practices that keep us committed.

Anger doesn’t have to be destructive; it can be the spark that drives real change. This fight isn’t just about resistance; it’s about creating a future we can be proud of. My journey from an angry activist to a climate optimist may have saved me and my activism, but that doesn’t mean I’ve discarded those parts of myself altogether. Instead, I’ve learned to work with my anger and use it to fuel me forward.

We must remember that we’ve overcome challenges in the past because of people who spoke up in their anger. A better world unfolded, thanks to spirited individuals who wouldn’t accept the status quo.

Now is a time to funnel that anger, to get clear in our vision of what we want to see unfold next. It might feel like daunting work, and some days, as if we’re taking more steps backward than forward.

But something is happening somewhere, and that, we simply must trust.

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If you’re ready to turn your passion into actionable optimism, consider joining The Climate Optimist Course. This course will help you discover and activate your unique climate leadership and provide the tools to keep you resilient and committed, no matter what comes next!