Be the Channel

(First published in my op-ed column, The Nature of Things)

I’ve long said we need a news channel that only reports good news—inspiring stories of positive things going on in the world; people performing random acts of kindness, quiet feats of bravery, and heroism of the everyday variety. We need a channel like this playing 24 hours a day in the background of our lives to offset the cacophony of negativity so prevalent across every medium of communication these days. How different would our conversations be if, when we sat down to supper at night, we talked about something we saw on the “Only Good News” channel? 

I remember reading how one time Mother Teresa refused to participate in an anti-war rally she’d been invited to attend, clarifying that if someone would instead organize a peace rally, she would happily lead the charge. I thought, Yes, that’s the way. 

We have the war on drugs, the war on cancer, the war against poverty, the war on terrorism—and, irony of all ironies—the fight against bullying. None of these have been successful. Drug use and deaths from overdose have continued to increase; cancer rates, the same, along with poverty and youth violence, racism. And not that attention to these issues isn’t needed, but obviously fighting against these, or any other social concern, is not an effective solution. 

What if we tried Mother Theresa’s approach and shifted our point of focus from resisting against what we don’t want to directing more of our energy toward what we desire. What might that look like?

The truth is, as wonderful as an Only Good News channel sounds, we can all get better at making subtle shifts individually, that would achieve nearly the same outcome. Instead of lashing back to that contentious comment Online, we can take the high road and offer words of encouragement, or find a thread in the issue that speaks more to our connection with each other, than what divides us. Because on a very fundamental level, this is the Good News we all need to take in and understand if we are to move any closer to finding solutions for the afore-mentioned issues, as well as many others—evidence of our connectedness.

In this week leading up to Valentine’s Day, it’s a good time to consider all the people that influence our lives, and appreciate the roles they fill—the connections we have. And not just the obvious ones such as our parents, spouses and children. And not just the ones who are nice to us, whose values line up with ours; those that are on the same moral page as ourselves or share our particular vision of truth. Not just the ones that love us. While it may seem like an act of excessive benevolence to try to muster appreciation for that boss that constantly pushes for more, or to express thankfulness for Aunt Esther’s meddling advice, we can recognize that even the people who annoy and anger us are offering value of some sort, if we choose to recognize it.

This can happen through our life-long connections with loved ones or shared moments in a checkout line with a total jerk. What we take away from any encounter is totally up to us.

Blessings can come in many guises, and rather than seeking ways in which to set ourselves apart, if we can begin to cultivate the habit of recognizing the ways in which we are connected, we can become the Good News stories we would so like to hear about.