I have always considered myself to be an optimist. When anything goes wrong in my life, or the lives of those close to me, I always look for the silver lining, for something I can grasp onto that leads me to believe that everything will be alright in the end. And I believe that. I believe that in the end, things will get better. I don’t think I’m stupid for believing in and only using positive thinking. I’m not being unrealistic. I have simply decided that I would rather look on the bright side of a situation, rather than focus on the fallout or the terrible effects a tragedy can have.

But some days it’s really hard to stay so optimistic. It’s those days when the only thing on the news is catastrophe, a constant bombardment of the horrible situations taking place around us. How can anyone stay constantly positive when lives are lost because of hate, when people are needlessly murdered because others think that it is okay based on their personal opinions? Part of being optimistic is fighting through those times when life is being stupid with the knowledge that things will eventually get better.

Now don’t get me wrong. I’m not trying to say that being sad or truly feeling the wound that tragedy causes is not okay. In fact, I believe it’s important. It’s important to realize what tragedy can do to a person. It’s important not to deny that it can take control of us, that it can overpower who we might have been before it strikes. Positive thinking isn’t the solution to a problem. You would be crazy if you believed that only positive thinking can bring us all never-ending joy and worry-free lives. It doesn’t. However, positive thinking is a mindset, possibly the most beneficial one you can have. Positive thinking is what drives me to believe that we have the ability to prevent further tragedy—that we can create a safer and better place to live for every single citizen, while remaining a free state.

So when it comes to staying optimistic when every news story is another tragedy, join me in believing that we can be better as a nation and as a society in the future. That we can use the horrendous events of our past to create a better tomorrow. We live in a nation where we often believe that we are one of the greatest and most progressive nations in the world, so let’s start to act like it by changing the way we treat tragedy—as a common, unavoidable occurrence. We should not have to consistently deal with the downfall of something horrible that could have been prevented in the first place. We must change our attitude to a more positive one in order to truly become a society that does not submit to the next tragedy that comes our way. Natural disasters can happen; they’re natural—I mean, it’s in the name. But the mass shootings and the gun violence that has become characteristic of our country is not normal, and they need to stop.

So be optimistic about our country’s potential. Dare to think positively when it comes to deciding if we can change ourselves for the better and prevent further deaths and increased hate. Do it. I dare you.