I think people are tired of whining.

Not just tired of whiners, but tired of whining themselves. I know I am.

We are constantly bombarded with all kinds of bad stuff that leads to brick wall after brick wall–existing in mazes which seem to have no way out. This mindset has created a lot of unnecessary pessimism about our lives, the lives of others and the fate of Earth itself.

I think people are ready to get on with it.

It occurred to me many years ago, when I was working at a high school, that if 10 percent of the kids were problems–200 kids at my school, which was a lot, no doubt–90 percent of students were doing what they were supposed to. That’s 1800 students doing what they were supposed to do versus 200 problem students. And you know what else? That was 1800 parents or sets of parents making sure their kids got to school every day, had appropriate, clean clothes to wear, and decent food to keep their bodies healthy. That’s pretty good.

We watch violent protests, and we are afraid for our lives, the lives of our families, and the survival of our society. But how many people aren’t protesting, or are doing it peacefully? Way more than the others. Far more people are able to disagree about issues in a civil way and still live in harmony.

The young people I know work hard. They show up every day–on time–and try to perform their jobs in ways that make them proud of their efforts. They have dreams and goals, and they are looking for a way to make them happen. They are no more tolerant of whiners than the rest of us, and they know, even better than we did, whining won’t get them what they want.

The students I worked with, particularly at the elementary school level, were excited to be challenged and meet those challenges. Sure, there is a fair variety of capabilities, but we set the bar as high as possible for each of them and give them the tools to achieve it. Nobody likes to think they are stupid or incapable of continually improving themselves. No one wants to think there is no hope for an improvement in their future. Neither do they want to think that anyone has the right to take away what they’ve achieved.

So what is the point of this blog? Hope. When I strip away the rhetoric, and invert the numbers, things are pretty good, and we have the means to make it even better.

I’m pretty happy about that.