Gratitude Friday 04-26-24 – Good News

“Some things are too good to be true and truly are good and true.” ― Constance Friday

It often seems that all the news that is fit to print is bad news. The truth of the matter is that we tend to focus on bad news. Bad news sells simply because that is what we buy. There was a time, not long ago in which the impact of bad news through our media sources had less impact on us. In my early years, we had three TV stations, no cable and news was delivered to our door step in physical form one or twice a day and on TV for one hour per night. Although there is a tendency to sugar coat the past, the news was bad. America was losing its manufacturing base, we were losing a war, we had an energy crisis in which gas was being rationed depending on the odd or even day rationing schedule in my home state, cities were being burned down in riots and America was learning that its President was actually a crook.

In the era prior to the information age, news came to us in short bits. In our own era, it is a constant flow of almost always bad news. As in prior times, there is a plethora of bad news, but unlike then we see fewer things with our own eyes to moderate the crap in the world. To me this means we need to seek out good news.

The Good News network, Positive News and the Good News Hub are three web sites I easily found that track good news happening in our world. I am grateful they exist and try to remember to look there regularly. There is an old saying that energy flows where attention goes, and if all we see is bad stuff, it has an impact on us. We can even falsely perceive that everything is going south on us. It is vital to push back against such forces, for our own wellbeing and for our collective welfare. I looked up a few stories from the three hyperlinked good news web sites, here are a few nuggets I found:

·        A Teacher Promised His 1978 Class an Eclipse Party in 50 Years–And He Just Hosted It – In 1978, a High School teacher told his teen students of an eclipse that would occur on April 8th, 2024. They were listening and a group of them came to his yard to watch it 46 years later.

·        Teen with Incredibly Rare Genetic Condition is Cured in World First By British Doctors – A 13 year old girl has an incredibly rare and often fatal condition. A team of doctors working for over a decade find a treatment that works and she is going to be okay.

·        What went right this week: halting Amazon deforestation, plus more – This piece talks about a reduction in logging of the rain forest because of changes in political leadership.

·        ‘Bike whisperer’ vigilante who finds stolen bikes and helps reform thieves - In the Icelandic capital of Reykjavik local bus driver and self-confessed “bike nerd” Bjartmar Leósson has become a local hero by helping to return hundreds of stolen bikes. On top of this noble act, he has helped the bike thieves to reform in the process.

Add to that good news we should consider what I think of as a superior species, the dog. I think that the average dog is better than any of us in comparison to unconditional love and loyalty. If we were more like dogs, the world would be a much better place. Here are some links to stories of dogs doing amazing things.

·        Dog helps rescue owner who fell through ice - After a 65-year-old Michigan man fell into an icy lake, his dog, Ruby, came to the rescue.

·        Hero Dog Saves His Tiny Best Friend From Drowning – A pit bull saves his little K9 friend from drowning in a pool when the owners were away. Video clip from a security camera.

·        Dog saves girl from a kidnapper – Self-explanatory video clip of a very good dog.

·        Barking dog rescues owner who fell more than 100 feet off hiking trail – Self-explanatory video of a dog that deserves extra treats from his owner.

In our day and age, we are not going to have good news delivered to our doorstep. That simply means we must dig a little deeper to find it. The truth of the matter is that most people are inherently good and the forces that pull our world together are still greater than those that pull us apart. If you opened up even one or two of those links, you did yourself a solid. It probably got you thinking about positive things happening. I for one am grateful to have places to look to find good news. When I get down about the state of the world, I remind myself to seek out good news and I always find it when I do.

What are you grateful for today?