A friend once asked me if I was ever going to run out of stories.
The answer is no, and for a simple reason: I don’t look for stories, I look for examples. And we find what we are looking for.
These stories started when I was a GED teacher. The students were all single moms who did not want to be there in the first place. Why didn’t they want to be there? In exchange for certain benefits, the state required them to spend 30 hours per week doing something. Their choices were doing janitorial work at the Civic Center or attending my GED classes. I was the lesser evil, but evil nonetheless.
In addition to GED lessons, I was supposed to teach something called life skills. The curriculum was boring and insulting, so I tossed it and started writing what I hoped were humorous or at least interesting stories about each topic. In the stories, I used the student’s names and made them the winners. They loved the stories. I dared not show up without a new one each day. Writing little illustrative tales became a habit, and a fun one.
After I left that job and Facebook came along, I decided to post stories illustrating things I find important. They’re everywhere. Almost every time I leave the house I find a new example. The resulting story is merely a description of the encounter or observation.
What do I look for? On what do I shine this little light of mine? Here are some of the main ones:
It begins with what Earl Nightingale called 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐌𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐜 𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐝. The Magic Word is Attitude.
Our innate 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠. Learning for the fun of it. Giving curiosity priority over the hickory stick.
𝐇𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐝𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐒𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐃𝐚𝐲𝐬, especially little-known facts about otherwise unrecognized days. Turning ho-hum into hmm.
𝐃𝐞𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐌𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬. The things that shake us and shape us along the way.
𝐈𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐭 𝐢𝐬, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐭? For one thing, “It is what it is” is a boring cliché. For another thing, it’s a load of crap. We are not stuck with anything. Sure, it is what it is… until we exercise our innate ability to change it or reframe it.
𝐅𝐮𝐧. We do dang near everything better when we are having fun. When we lighten up and become more playful, we squeeze the most out of loving, learning, and living. Everything we want, we want because we believe that having it will make us feel better. Feeling better is fun.
𝐉𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐒𝐚𝐲 𝐊𝐧𝐨𝐰. Choosing to be a discerning person instead of a knee-jerk bellower of balderdash. Or at least, for cryin out loud, taking two minutes to do a little fact checking. Know what was once considered impossible that is now either routine or passé. Not falling for the false. You can, matter of fact, teach an old dog new tricks. Given a choice, a frog will not sit in a pan of gradually warming water until it boils to death. We use far more than ten percent of our brains. It is a fascinating planet filled with fascinating people. If we’re too bogged down in the mindless, we miss the miracles. Just say know better.
𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐛𝐚𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝. More good by far. A million to one more. Turn off the news and use your own experience as your yardstick.
Whatever is important to you, look for it. You’ll find examples all over the place. You will never run out of stories; you will never run out of good things to think, speak, and write about. Upbeat is better than beat down.