Little Bits of Goodness

Whether you learned it as a parent, a leader or a pet owner, chances are that somewhere along the way you heard of the value of positive reinforcement. Positive reinforcement of appropriate behavior can change the direction of a life much more quickly and with longer lasting impact than criticism. It’s just harder to do.

But today’s post isn’t about raising children or even puppies, it’s about our call to raise a civil earth.

There is a gluttony of dismal news out there today. I don’t need to repeat it here, you are bombarded with it every moment. And then, we give gloomy news new life and nurture it ourselves over coffee or at the water cooler (does anybody’s office really have a group that gathers around a water cooler? Just wondering.) We add our own layer of gloom to the growing sense of doom and, presto, before you know it, we’re a hopeless lot.

SO, I am arming you to go be an official member of the Goodness Growers! (You can think of a cuter name for your mission if you’d like!) The process is simple.
1.     Identify
2.     Applaud
3.     Move On

You might miss little gifts of beauty and goodness if you’re in a hurry. Slow down.

Identification is the tricky part of your mission as the media and modern technology are very little help to you in the i.d. endeavor. You have to be aware. You will have to stop thinking about yourself and tomorrow’s worries for a moment and look around. Suddenly, you’ll see that there are little bits of goodness in action EVERYWHERE! Someone on a morning walk may be taking along an extra grocery bag to pick up garbage; a child may say thank you when you serve them; a stranger might hold a door open; there’s a custodian cleaning the front doors for the billionth time in a week; perhaps someone let’s you go first at a four way stop or makes space for you to merge on the freeway. Remember how worked up you got last time you tried to merge and no one let you in? What if you have an EQUAL and opposite reaction when someone gives up three feet of commuter traffic space to you?

This is where step two is so important. We see these little acts of goodness everyday, but we never celebrate them with the same energy we commit to being frustrated when people and events aren’t ambassadors of good. So, acknowledge the little things that prove to you all is right with the world. The birds singing in your back yard, or a cool breeze. Changing seasons, constant currents, sunrise and sunset…they’re all good and gentle reminders  that there is a great hand in the handiwork around us.

When you’re blessed with a little Bit’O Goodness…say Thank You! Amen! Applaud!

And then…move on. The thing is, when I’m experiencing a really peaceful moment or a good thing, I find that I am reluctant to leave. I don’t want to have to go back “out there.” But out there is where we belong. To See Good. Be Good. Do Good. Go out today with the intention not just of offering your best to the world, but with the intention of honoring the best all around you in every form it takes…even when it’s coming from one in whom you’re usually prepared to find the worst…oh wait…especially then!!

Have a seeing goodness day, my friends!

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