Fifty Shades of Light

Dwell in the darkness for any length of time and before ya know it, it can almost feel eerily comfortable, like hanging with an old friend. While it’s important to not have blinders on when it comes to what’s happening around us, it’s also…important to not have blinders on when it comes to what’s happening around us.

In other words… there’s plenty of light in the world. But our eyes have to be open to it. And sadly, good news doesn’t make headlines nearly as often – or as prominently – as the bad.

Let’s face it – bad news flat-out sells.

But in the interest of finding balance…

we should be careful of what it is that we’re actually buying.

I’ve been somewhat of an introverted extrovert recently – probably a byproduct of being an “empty caver” and being alone with my thoughts sometimes. Been trying to process the craziness, the injustices, the losses and tragedies that have befallen our country and the world in recent days and months, and it’s taken me for a bit of a ride. But there’s so much GOOD that happens every day, and I’m reminded of how important it is for us to see it.

More often than not, that means we hafta seek it out. Seek out good news, feel-good stories, tales of human kindness. Maria Shriver is so great at this – she runs a digital column every Sunday – “Maria Shriver’s Sunday Paper” – whose primary goal is to “move humanity forward.” She doesn’t ignore the tragic headlines, but she imparts inspiring, hope-filled words on things we can do to make a difference in our own worlds. As far as I’m concerned, along with all of the other good that she does, Maria’s pretty much golden.

Life is like a prism – there are so many brilliant, vivid colors to it. Sure, some dark colors are mixed in and we shouldn’t ignore them, but that doesn’t mean we have to succumb to ’em. Not on your life!

We’d do well to not let the darkness ever get too comfortable.

May we always seek out the light. And in the midst of some turbulent, trying times, may we remind ourselves that there’s always good in the world.

It’s worth looking for.