Good News
I don’t know about you but I am sick and tired of being sick and tired. I am tired of being pummeled by the constant drumbeat of negative news: terrible economy, companies going broke, people losing jobs, yada, yada, yada. We hear it everyday, we read about it, see it on TV, and listen about it from friends and family.
I just have to say loud and clearly: ENOUGH ALREADY!!
Of course, I know that I’m as responsible as the next person for bringing this negativity to the level it is today. As I have written about what I see and feel and think, I know that I have been as saddened and pessimistic as some of the most cynical columnists.
So today, I’m telling myself now to SHUT UP and smell the hot, roasted, organic, free-trade coffee that I was lucky enough to buy a cup of today. I’m telling myself to focus more on appreciation than on griping and criticism.
Yeah, I know that AIG sucks and that the government is just a collection of drunken spenders living it up on our paychecks and taxes. I know that Wall Street was filled with greedy selfish people not worrying about the consequences of their actions. I know that some of our most precious companies will go bankrupt and that more people will lose jobs.
But I myself am not going to take it anymore! I’m not going to get angry but instead be thankful and appreciative for what I have. And that’s the message that I want to send. That message is so desperately needed in our country and our world.
I have been sending positive messages to my company, even though our sales are still down compared to last year. I am focused on our new catalog, our 20th Annual Trade Show a few weeks ago, and finding any bit of good news to share. I have asked the managers and they are responding with news about high quality performance from employees, weddings, inventory reductions. Heck, I’ll take any good news because the truth is: we can’t get enough of it. We hear hundreds of things every day to fear and be worried about, to get depressed about. It’s time to turn this whole mishigoss around.
It’s well known that positive people who express positive emotions are more resilient when facing stress, challenges and adversity. It’s time to get positive. It’s time to be grateful for the lives we have, the people in our lives that we forget about, the things we enjoy, the food we eat, water we drink, the air we breathe.
Those who read this are still alive. We’re still over ground. And we should be thankful we are.
So my little mitzvah for today is to share the little mitzvahs of others, to be a positive influence on my company, my friends, and my family.
This will not be easy, because old, negative habits are hard to break.
But I will give it a shot. My first bit of advice is to turn off CNN and CNBC and click on www.goodnewsnetwork.org. Did you know that Father Maurice Chase celebrated his 90th birthday on St. Patrick's Day by taking $15,000 in cash to Los Angeles' Skid Row and doling out the money to hundreds of the needy? How about that a Michigan Semi-Conductor plant posted double digit profits? Yes, even in Michigan.
Joining the Good News Network costs $2 a month, a bargain for someone desperately searching the world for good news. But believe it or not, good news is everywhere you look.
It’s right under your nose, within your heart and your brain.
Aggman's Blog 