Tune Into the Good Moments
“Sometimes it’s hard, but you just have to go get pizza.”
These words of wisdom were spoken by my 3.5-year-old daughter. She said this to my wife, who was upset at the time. We were about to walk a few blocks to a restaurant for a pizza dinner, but she momentarily didn’t want to leave the couch. It had been a long day and her energy was running low. Thankfully, our little girl has this gift of being adorable and irresistible.
When she said this it immediately struck me because it was funny and cute, but also because there’s some wisdom in it. I typed out her quote in my phone before we headed out the door so that I could return to it later.
My daughter was onto something with this thought. Sometimes life is hard, but you must seek out the good. Pizza is one of life’s many goods. There are plenty others, though. A good conversation with a friend. A hug from your child. A compliment from a coworker. You don’t necessarily seek out these moments in life, but sometimes you have to make a conscious effort to recognize that they exist. On the other hand, sometimes we should seek out these moments because life can be hard and a little good can create a lot of change. Some days we need to be reminded of the contrast from all the negativity that consumes us.
It’s easy to forget that we have a lot to be thankful for in our lives. We are bombarded by negativity in the mainstream news media. Social media can be incredibly toxic, even if unintended. We are living in a hyper-political time where news or accomplishments that should be universally accepted as good are instead scrutinized to the bone for any trace of potential wrongdoing. Talking heads on TV never stop talking, never stop arguing, never stop criticizing. We have up-to-the-second news thanks to livestreaming platforms and twitter — and with it comes the immediate reaction that we often don’t need.
Sometimes it’s hard, but you have to go get pizza. Go get the pizza.
Why would we let ourselves be consumed with negativity when there is plenty of positivity to be had? Sure, stay educated on current events — but do we need to read every opinion piece and watch every media segment? Do we need to drown ourselves in judgment and criticism only to come up for air just long enough to add to the noise on social media?
Seek out the good. You won’t have to go far.
As a society, we don’t need more reaction — we need more measured response. We don’t need more outrage and piling on — we need more thoughtfulness and willingness to have our own opinions changed. Why should we expect the opinion of one to change someone else’s, but not open ourselves to that same possibility of accepting a different opinion?
We should be seeking facts and forming our own opinions then trying to disprove them. The most successful teams thrive on dissent — hashing out the differences constructively rather than looking for support and congruence. We don’t need to be bashed over the head repeatedly with the same information and opinions — it’s not only unhelpful, but can lead us to being entrenched in the wrong camp.
Recognize the good moments in life. Challenge yourself during the bad moments to go get pizza. This world doesn’t need more negativity — we must break free from the regular programming and start tuning into ourselves and the good.
