With so many challenges facing our communities and our world currently, we can sometimes focus only on the negatives and forget to celebrate and acknowledge those magical and positive moments or experiences in our lives.

This can become contagious. Some days we can feel like all we ever hear our friends and family members, or the media talking about, is the difficult times.

I acknowledge that we can’t brush over these challenges with a rainbow coloured brush, but I do believe that we can actively and regularly shift our focus from the doom and gloom and look up towards the positive and the silver linings. 

When we as adults look back on our childhood or school memories I am sure that we can recall moments of despair, confusion, sadness or betrayal, as we worked through friendship breakdowns and challenges with our teachers, our parents, and our family members. But the vast majority of people can also look back and remember the triumphs, the laughter, the long lasting friendships, and joyous moments with parents and family.

I encourage parents to speak with their children as they work through any teenage woes they encounter, and at these times be careful not to always jump to their rescue or try to be the problem solver too quickly. Just be there, listen and support them to problem solve towards their own solution. Also remind them that for the vast majority of situations, these challenges, and feelings, will pass. This will best set them up for a resilient future.  

The key to navigating challenging times is optimism – “a hopeful, positive outlook on the future, yourself and the world around you”. Optimism is key aspect of resilience. People who are optimistic are more committed to their goals, are more successful in achieving their goals, and are more satisfied with their lives.

When we focus on a positive and successful future, we are more willing to put in time and energy to make that come about. We are more engaged and persistent in our endeavours. Even on those days/weeks that we don’t feel particularly positive, the benefits of optimism will soon follow. This weekend, try to enjoy the small things and celebrate every win. 

I truly believe that it is not what happens to us in our lives that is important but rather how we react to what happens in our life. I am proud to be an optimist (most of the time) and to be someone who looks for the good in people and humanity. This does not mean that I accept disrespect or harmful behaviours towards me or others in my world/school - it simply means that I consider the circumstances, the challenges and the function of what is going on for that person at that time.

If we all take a moment to pause and consider things from another perspective, then maybe situations that may have escalated, can sometimes be managed in a much more peaceful manner, leading to the best possible outcome for all.  

The current pandemic crisis, weather crisis, (and hopefully even the rental crisis) will pass. The optimists will use the this time to learn, grow and adapt. The pessimists on the other hand will catastrophise, throw their hands in the air in despair or feel sorry for themselves. Winston Churchill once said “A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.” Let’s continue to support each other as an optimistic community and look for the good in each other and the world.  

Our children can be our role models in this space. They can lead us as we remember the good in the world.

This week I announced our four College Ambassadors, and I can honestly say that their optimism and positive outlook on life was just some of the characteristics that made them stand out.

We were also impressed by their strengths in communication, organisation, innovation, and their passion to work together to not only continue to improve our College, but also our local and broader communities. 

Congratulations to Ava Van Klooster, Aidan Chapman, Josephine McMurtrie and Ayyan Qureshi.

We are so excited to see what we can achieve with your leadership of your fellow Ambassadors and all students of Foxwell State Secondary College in 2022.