Look for the good in every person and every situation. You’ll almost always find it.
Brian Tracy
The week of April 15-20 seems to be a time that has attracted evil for over 100 years. For me these five days have always been a time of celebration, because they include my father’s birthday, my aunt’s birthday as well as my parent’s anniversary. Over the last 22 years though, Americans have come to dread this week due to many national tragedies. As this week came and went we saw many news stories remembering the bombing during the Boston marathon last year, Dateline also did a special about the Columbine shooting 15 years ago. The special had a positive message about overcoming that I would encourage you to watch. These are only two of the several tragic events that have occurred within this 5 day time span.
As I sat back and reflected on this time period and my reasons for celebration and the countries desire for healing I keep wondering how can we combine these two and make changes? I am blessed that I have a family that has a strong bond although geographically we are not close. We have love and support that transcends distance. I live my life with a positive outlook and try to reflect that to all of my friends and family, but our nation seems to be in distress that continues to grow. It is heartwarming to see the bond that the survivors of these various tragedies have, but this bond is not crossing over to the nation as a whole.
My desire is to see more stories of people coming together to support one another. Utilizing the common courtesies that seem to be old fashioned like holding a door, or even simply smiling and saying hello. One of my favorite stories is Pay it Forward by Catherine Ryan Hyde. The message of doing something kind for someone and wanting nothing in return except to have someone pay that kindness forward to someone else is my mantra. Although it is not a common practice I offer everyone I see a smile for the day. I hope that you can smile too.
We tend to forget that happiness doesn’t come as a result of getting something we don’t have, but rather of recognizing and appreciating what we do have.
Frederick Keonig
