After the COVID-19 pandemic and its restrictions were behind us, I had high hopes for better times ahead. Then Russia’s invasion of Ukraine killed off any chance of life getting back to normal.
As we all well know, these two ‘black swan’ events, both emanating far beyond our borders, seriously disrupted our business and personal lives.
To add insult to injury, back home we’ve had to deal with the bedlam of an ANC-led government, seemingly on a path of self-destruction and determined to take the country with it.
It has been a litany of disasters, including steep price increases of farm inputs and a crippling rise in shipping costs.
Local infrastructure is in a state of collapse, with roads in a shocking state, railways largely defunct, grossly inefficient ports and intermittent electricity supplies with no hope of Eskom ever again meeting electricity demands.
And casting a pall over our lives, in all corners of the country, is a high crime rate. Like all government institutions, the SAPS is proving incapable of dealing with petty crime, let alone organised crime.
The turmoil of the past three years and the flood of bad news have kicked my ‘negativity’ bias into overdrive. It has had me awake at night with my mind spinning, wallowing in a fit of deep pessimism.
Now for the good news
But wait. There have been ‘green shoots’ to relieve my growing pessimism:
- The star economic performer in our country over the past three years has been the agriculture sector. Our farmers have coped better than any group of managers in other economic sectors. If ever there has been a glowing testament to their resilience, tenacity and skill, this is it.
- Agbiz economist Wandile Sihlobo recently highlighted three key indicators that augur well for the immediate future. The warming sea surface temperatures in the central and eastern Pacific Ocean (the El Niño/La Niña Southern Oscillation) have triggered good rains in the country and these are expected to continue.
- Trade flow disruptions due to the Russia-Ukraine war have lifted commodity prices, and these, too, are expected to continue. And thirdly, a total of 1 268 tractors were sold in October, the highest monthly sales for 40 years! This great news is a welcome indicator of the confidence among our farmers.
- Jan Greyling, writing in SA Grain, added to my improving demeanour by reporting on Corteva Agriscience’s latest Global Food Security Index exercise. This extensive and highly credible survey ranks 113 countries around the world on the level of food security they provide for their citizens. To my delight, I found that, despite our present governance woes, South Africa is the most food-secure country in Southern Africa.
Fighting pessimism
These welcome items of good news finally kicked me out of my funk. I’ve got over my dose of pessimism, and I’m sleeping much better.
- Here’s how you too can fight back against the paralysis caused by pessimism:
Change your news diet: Before giving time to coverage headlining bad news, stop and ask yourself: “Is it really necessary that I know about this?” If not, skip it! - Say goodbye to doomsayers: It may be difficult, but as courteously as possible avoid habitual moaners and pessimists, who never see any good in anyone or in any situation.
Cultivate positive people - Seek them out; don’t leave your interaction with these people to chance. Identify and schedule regular contact with them.
- Volunteer for community tasks; these are a great way to surround yourself with happier attitudes.
- Guard your precious time: Negativity can end up wasting many hours! Don’t allow negative people to steal your time and energy.
- Set limits for whingers: There will, of course, be negative people whom cannot escape. Let them know (again, as politely as possible) that you would prefer to be left out of negative conversations. One approach is to ask chronic complainers how they intend to fix the problem, or how they would fix it, given the opportunity. This often stops them in their tracks.
Peter Hughes is a business and management consultant.
