It's Raining ...

Its raining here, it's pouring, in fact. We are in a deluge of good news!

I love good news; I don't care if it's something huge or just a little happy happening, good news rocks. Good news, when shared, is a beacon of hope. It reminds us that good things still happen, that if my pal had some good fortune then I could be next, that even if the world seems like it's going to pot the possibility is great that things will turn around at any moment. Good news is a declaration of Magnificent Possibility.

Sometimes when I'm down I go trolling for good news. I'll scan my Facebook page, read our town newspaper or ask the kids what crazy awesome thing happened to them today. I'll also make a list of the good news in my own life. My lists have included things like finding Mischief's tie for an upcoming wedding, having the time to sip my coffeejuice and read a book and seeing that the kids picked up their miscellaneous junk from the front entry. I look for any little thing that can put a smile on my face.

Today I woke up to some spectacular news. First, I discovered that Mr. Awesome let me sleep in ... late! Then my mom texted me to let me know that my dad just heard back about all of his post-chemo tests and it's all Good News! He has no active cancer in his body at this point; the chemo did it's job! He still has some maintenance things to do for the next couple of years but all the scary words like bone marrow transplant have melted away in the light of this magnificent news!

Then I clicked on to Facebook and was greeted with dozens of 'May the 4th be with you' messages from my dorky pals. As I scrolled through my news feed I discovered that friends are getting books published, another one is celebrating a daughter's engagement and yet another is announcing her son's acceptance into university. There were posts about races won, surgeries booked and time spent with family. Good news is all over the place if you open your ears, and heart, to it.

In a culture where news reports are full of fear and violence, where people have made being cynical fashionable and where joy seems all but extinct it is our responsibility to be Bearers of Good News, Ambassadors of Hope. Those of us who can see the glass as half full need to remind the others that that means there's always room for more. We need to teach those around us how to see the good, how to celebrate the everyday happenings that make this life incredible.

Whether great or small, celebrate the Good that you see, embrace joy and live hope.

Let us be grateful to people who make us happy; they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom. --Marcel Proust