Optimism is sometimes hard to maintain—especially when the things we thought were established givens turn out to be unreliable.

But the recalls on hand sanitizer and the debate about stimulus checks can teach us a powerful lesson—one that transcends both the love of profit and myopic political beliefs.

The lesson is quite simple:

No business, or government, can give us optimism. It comes from within.

Optimism is the child of grit, that deep-set resilience that allows us to keep moving forward in the most trying of circumstances. Even when our “givens” turn out to be nothing more than illusions, we all have a measure of grit that we can draw on to persevere.

For me, optimism is rooted in my faith. I know that, no matter how bad things may get, God is involved in the details–even if I can’t see how.

We may have taken our country’s unity for granted. Social unrest and the Black Lives Matter movement have challenged that and, once again, the people’s optimism is an unfortunate casualty.

But I contend that optimism is the key to moving forward. As individuals, we need to stop trying to go back to the “good old days”, and with grit and faith, be ready to carve out a positive future.

In the end, optimism won’t be squirted out of a plastic bottle. Neither will it arrive in the mail. It will come from within us as we choose to believe that, no matter what tomorrow holds, it’s going to be a good day.

JP Robinson is a political thinker and historical fiction author whose work has been praised by industry leaders such as Publishers Weekly. He is also a devoted husband and father. Follow him on Facebook.