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It’s an all too common fact of life that sometimes bad things happen to people.

I recently read (and reviewed) a book that included this quote:

“The news isn’t all the news… not by a long shot. It’s just what reporters want to tell you about. Riots come and go, wars come and go, but under the tumult, day after day, century after century, millions of people are doing nice things for one another, making sacrifices, mostly small things, but it’s all those little kindnesses that hold civilization together, all those people who live quiet lives and never make the news.”

There was another shooting in America over the weekend. It seems like every day you hear about a shooting or a tragedy of some kind happening somewhere. And it’s not just the national news – sometimes is much closer and much more impactful, like the local news, or your social media news feeds.

It’s easy to get caught up in what we see online and on TV and just assume that that’s the way things are now. And it’s definitely easy for TV and the internet to showcase the negative aspects of life. Because really, news channels these days are essentially the same as A&E or TBS – they’re all just fighting for ratings. And unfortunately tragedies get ratings.

It’s impossible to ignore it – there really are terrible things happening to people around the world, to people in our home towns, even to the people that we care about.

But that’s not all that’s happening. That’s just the stuff that we hear the most about.

“When a tree falls it resounds with a thundering crash; and yet a whole forest grows in silence.” – Jocelyn Murray

Take me and you for example… Well I guess I don’t know about you, but personally, I almost never make the news (ok I was on the news once for a fundraising event, and then another time for a tax office – long story). And here we are living normal lives, reading (and writing) blogs, going to work, having lunch with friends, calling our moms, taking care of kids… holding civilization together.

It’s the good choices we make, the quiet, normal days we have that make the world what it really is – a place where good things can outweigh the bad. Where beautiful relationships live, and happy memories are made with healthy babies. Where people fall in love and stay together, and puppies find good homes.

It's the good choices we make, the quiet, normal days we have that make the world what it really is Click To Tweet

I am in no way advocating that we should ignore the news and bury our heads in the sand. I absolutely believe in fighting for what you believe in, in protesting the things you find intolerable, and in being knowledgeable and aware of your environment.

I’m simply saying that we shouldn’t take in all the negativity of the world without also looking for the positives. We can’t absorb the horrible injustices and forget about the wonderful kindnesses happening. We can learn about and empathize with those who are suffering, but we must also stay positive and remember that the news isn’t all the news.

And we absolutely, without a doubt, have to try to use our quiet lives to continue doing nice things for one another, make small sacrifices and perform little kindnesses to hold civilization together.

The news isn’t all the news... not by a long shot. Click To Tweet

 

Tell me what you’re doing to create ‘good news’ in the world. And, if you’re feeling down and interested in looking for more positive stories, check out this positive news website I found – goodnewsnetwork.org

Thank you so much for taking the time to read this. Please share, comment, or consider pinning these quotes on Pinterest.

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