Can we be positive in these times?

What’s the point in being positive with the world we live in?  That’s something I hear often.  My usual response to that is to ask what their view of the world is.  I then hear a litany of stories that can be found any given day in the news – terrorists, plane crashes, murders and so on.  The fact that all the news shows have to fill up huge blocks of time every day means that they have to seek out as much mayhem as possible.  Add that to the fact that we humans are wired to be curious especially about the odd and the awful leads many to believe we live in a predominantly negative world.

I don’t watch the news.  I don’t have much negativity in my Facebook feed.  I look for and pay attention to the miraculous (spring buds coming out from under piles of snow) and the things that bring a smile to my face.  I revel in the new inventions, the feel of my sheets when I slip into bed, the friends that make me think and make me feel loved. 

Just that simple shift from focusing on negativity in the news to noticing things that make me happy changes my world view dramatically.  Does that mean terrible things aren’t happening somewhere?  Absolutely not.  But there are so many more wondrous things.  I figure I’ll hear about the important ‘news’ stories eventually and then I can choose to find out more if I care to.  But other than that, I don’t even want to randomly let them drift into my sphere. 

As we head into a holiday weekend for many religions, I think it’s a good time to make a decision to pay attention to what’s good around us – in our family members (yes, I know they can be challenging but they probably think the same thing about us), in our fellow citizens and yes, in our world.

Until next time, keep shining!