HappyRant

What's right with the world?

Lately I've been listening to Air America on my car radio (liberal/progressive talk radio). Since I lean more to the left in my political views, I find it easier to listen to than conservative talk radio, as I agree with more of what they're talking about.

But even if I find it easier to agree with, I still find myself frequently having to turn it off or change the station. Yesterday, driving in silence after feeling compelled to turn it off yet again, I was noodling over what that was all about.

Ultimately, it's because much of politically oriented talk radio - both liberal and conservative - is focused on, "What's wrong with _______." There is almost never a celebration of things going right. There is almost never a recognition of the immense good being done in the world. And all that focus on what's wrong starts to drag me down.

The key measurement in talk radio (and other media) seems to be, if it raises your blood pressure, turns your face red and makes you splutter and spit, it must be good entertainment.

I don't have any illusion that I'm going to change that - certainly not with a blog post. But I can plant a seed to counter it that some of you might carry out into your lives.

Reinforced by the media, looking at what's wrong with the world has almost become a habitual perspective. And habits don't change without a concerted effort. With that in mind, I'd like to challenge you to start a new daily habit. Every day, make it a point to ask yourself, "What's right with the world?" Go out of your way to reinforce a positive view.

Maybe you do it first thing in the morning to set the tone of your day. Maybe you consciously scan the newspaper for positive stories. Maybe you keep a what's-right-with-the-world journal, much like keeping a gratitude journal. Maybe you start a what's-right-with-the-world blog.

However you do it, you just might be amazed at the degree to which what you focus on shapes your image of the world. 

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Try a 21-day complaint fast

Could you go 21 days without complaining? And if you did, what effect do you suppose that would have on your outlook on life?

According to this article, thousands of people are trying it to find out.

In the summer of 2006, Bowen challenged his congregation to go 21 days without a complaint or moan. His intention was to help them see the brighter side of life. Each individual was given a purple bracelet, and each time he or she gossiped, whined or complained, he or she had to switch the bracelet to the other wrist. The three-week countdown then started over.

What started out as a simple, local effort has turned into a world-wide campaign. Thanks to an outpouring of publicity as well as the sincerity of Bowen’s message, people across the world have jumped on the “A Complaint Free World” wagon. More than 183,000 bracelets have been shipped throughout the world.

I love the the notion of reinforcing the commitment to no complaining by physically switching the bracelet to the opposite arm. Of course, you don't have to buy a special bracelet to try this. Even a regular old rubber band would do the trick. The key is just giving it a shot.

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Use positive raw materials to build your worldview

Imagine that your mind is a machine that creates your perception of the world around you (which shouldn't be too difficult, since it is). Now ask yourself, what are the raw materials it's using? Is it using good, positive inputs, or is it a case of "garbage in, garbage out?"

As luck would have it, we have the ability to choose some of those inputs, simply by what we choose to focus on. For me, this blog has become part of my quest for positive raw materials. It has become part of a daily positive practice. I often do it first thing in the morning as a way to begin the day with a positive, hopeful, inspiring focus.

Every day, we're bombarded with toxic messages. They're in the news, on TV, and in the movies. It's easy to skim from day to day with the assumption that garbage in garbage out is just the way things are. But with awareness, we can consciously choose to pursue higher quality raw materials.

For me, this blog has become a great source of those raw materials, but there are any number of different ways to incorporate those positive inputs. For example...

• Reading positive books
• Watching positive movies
• Reading about positive, inspiring people
• Surrounding yourself with positive people
• Finding a personally compelling way to make a difference in the world

That's far from a comprehensive list, but you get the idea.

So how about it? What can you do to start focusing on more of those positive inputs and leaving the toxic messages behind? It doesn't have to be a huge commitment. Even something simple, like spending ten minutes each morning with an inspiring book, can make a difference.

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Focus on finding answers

A conversation with a friend this morning prompted me to pull a book off the shelf that has been sitting there for a couple years, waiting for me to read it. It's Deepak Chopra's The Book of Secrets.

As I was scanning through it, I ran across an exercise where he suggests looking at the news not just as some external source of titillation and entertainment, but as it relates to you. The last in a series of questions he suggests is...

Which part of me does this program stand for? The part that dwells on one problem after another, or the part that wants to find answers?

Since I started this blog, I've been thinking a lot about what kind of positive news really has energy behind it. When I read that question, it occurred to me that one piece of the puzzle is people who focus on finding answers.

The risk with wanting to focus only on positive news is that it's not exclusively a positive world. It's not all light and fluffy and filled with kittens and summertime lemonade stands. There is strife. There are problems. And to ignore them completely is to give up the opportunity to do something about them and create more of the positive.

News about people who encounter those problems and look for answers combines the two realities that exist in the world. Hopelessness and hope. Hate and love. Despair and inspiration. It doesn't let the turmoil exist by itself (which it pretty much does in the mainstream news media), and it doesn't turn a blind eye to the fact that it exists.

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What are you optimistic about?

It's so easy to fall into the trap of pessimism when so much of what we see in the media would suggest that the world is falling apart at the seams.

When I ran across The Edge Annual Question for 2007, it struck a deep chord. The question? "What are you optimistic about?"

For one thing, it's just fascinating to read page after page of optimistic perspectives, something we don't typically get. But the other thing that really struck a chord for me was what a great question that is to incorporate into our daily lives.

What if every day you sat down and spent five minutes answering the question, "What am I optimistic about?" That might be optimism about big picture things on a global scale, or optimism about positive details unfolding in your own life. You could simply sit and ponder it, or you go so far as to start an optimism journal, getting the ideas out of your head and reinforcing them by putting them down on paper.

Take a look at your own life and your day to day habits. What can you do to cultivate optimism? 

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Fueling positive change

Because I've been focused on finding positive stories to blog about, the amount of positive news we get exposed to (or lack of it) has been top of mind lately.As I look at the lopsided ratio of murder and mayhem to inspiration and hope, it's clear that we're missing an essential element that would fuel positive change.

Yesterday I started thinking about how I feel when I read an article about someone or something that inspires me. It energizes me, and it makes me want to jump up and do something good. When I see other people making the world a better place, it rubs off on me, and makes me want to jump in and add my efforts to the positive change mix.

I may end up doing something as a result of that inspiration, or I may not. But the fact is that simply reading those positive stories has an impact on me. And sometimes that impact gets translated into action.

When I seek out that kind of story, whether it's in the news, or via books I'm reading, or even people I meet in person, it's like adding a dose of nutrients to the primordial soup of positive potential. It makes it that much more likely that something cool is going to come out of it.

When I expand that idea to the world at large, it's clear that we're missing a vital source of fuel for positive change. Not only is the overwhelming focus on murder and mayhem creating a toxicity that is dragging us down, but the lack of those inspiration sources is also cheating us of the potential for some amazingly positive developments.

The math is simple. The more inspiration people come in contact with on a daily basis, the more likely it is that they're going to be inspired to do something to make the world a better place, whether in a big way or a small way. And the more people step up to that plate, the more amazing things will start to happen. That's not pie-in-the-sky wishful thinking. It's just logical common sense.

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Actionoptimism

I think we need to start an actionoptimism movement. Not the pie-in-the-sky variety of optimism that just sits around thinking things are bound to get better, but the kind of optimism that inspires people to take action and focus their efforts and energy on making the world a better place with the belief that it really can be done. 

I'm particularly charged up about the idea this morning. Last night I went to a fundraiser for Room to Read, an organization that funds schools and libraries in impoverished areas around the world, based on the belief that education is the key to breaking the cycle of poverty. The organization's founder, John Wood, spoke about their efforts and their results-focused approach (you may remember John from an article in the premiere issue of Motto magazine). They've done some amazing things.

While what Room to Read is doing and how they're doing it was inspiring, what I really loved was John's closing message. "Education is inherently optimistic," he said, wrapping up with a message hope. "And this world needs a lot more optimists."

So many people confuse optimism with foolish pipe-dreaming. Especially now, when so much of the media focuses on the grim, and dire, and tragic, some people wear their pessimism with pride. But John and Room to Read, with their bottom-line focus and their impressive growth, offer a clear demonstration of how action-oriented optimism really can change the world.

If you're looking for a good inspiring read, you might want to pick up John's book, Leaving Microsoft to Change the World: An Entrepreneur's Odyssey to Educate the World's Children.

So waddaya think? Who wants to be an actionoptimist?

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