take down the sticky note

My friend Linda shared this quote from John Pavlovitz.

Hopelessness doesn’t deserve to have the top spot in your head. It is not worth the joy it displaces. Hopelessness is a liar.

The bad news has a way of staying with us. We see things that outrage or terrify us, and we sticky note them so that they are forever in front of us, ever reminding us of how terrible it all is. We do this day after day, gradually accruing the evidence for why we should despair; seeing only the hurtful people, only the acts of violence, only the failures of humanity. The faces and the names and the images that discourage us become artificially magnified.

And all the while, we let goodness fly beneath the radar of our awareness; we allow countless acts of mercy and displays of courage and affirmations of decency to come and go without acknowledging them, dwelling on them, metabolizing them into our hearts and being strengthened to keep going. We don’t allow ourselves to see the infinite reasons to have hope. I want you to see them.

The truth is, dear friend: there are far more people in this place working for equality, diversity, love, and justice than opposing them—and it isn’t even close. There are hundreds of millions of people in this world who (just like you) wake up every day trying to be the kind of person the world needs; lavish with compassion, overflowing with generosity, relentless with love. You are, even when you’re not aware of it, surrounded on all sides by like-hearted people who are not okay with the suffering around them either...

So today, take down the sticky notes of disappointment and sadness, so that you’re able to see the landscape clearly. Scan the horizon for the builders, the lovers, the helpers, the healers—and allow them the precious bandwidth they deserve.

Let yourself be encouraged by the awesome, beautiful, brilliant goodness that still occupies this place, and allow a new word to ascend to the top spot of your mind, where it belongs.

May Hope trend in your head today.

It's a beautiful day in God's world be sure to see the good.
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I am leading some trips this year and next. If you are interested in reading about them, or joining in, the links are below.....

Paris-Normandy River Cruise
October 23-31, 2019
http://www.eo.travelwithus.com/tours/rc19102319x17768#.W3avNFJK3cs

Holy Land Trip leaving January 20, 2020
http://www.eo.travelwithus.com/tours/hl20012020g17768#eotours

Treasures of Ireland
July 13-22, 2020
http://www.eo.travelwithus.com/tours/ir20071320a17768#eotours