Seeking Positive in a Negative World

Grumble, grumble. Complain, complain. Gnashing of teeth.

Does the news get you down? Do you react to unwelcome news? Do you occasionally turn off the news and go to another channel where you know the program's content is pleasing? I know about this kind of reaction because I do it from time to time. And more frequently!

The reactions are not healthy. I know that. Do you?

I get it that without a reaction we wouldn't be moved to do something positive. But come on, the negative news really is depressing. No wonder young people prefer to listen to their music or bury their faces in their I-phones.

So what to do? Think positive? Is it really that simple? I doubt it.

It takes discipline to be positive. Try it. If you wake in the morning and approach the mirror with trepidation because you usually encounter a face that would scare a ghost, then you have a negativity issue. You will have to work on being positive.

Why, you ask? Because you and I are endowed with creative genes in our brain. We can do something about the negative issues that plague our society. We can. But first we have to realize we have this capability and then imagine us using it. That is not an easy habit to acquire, but we can do that as well!

Look, I'm trying to be positive here. It is not an easy thing to be, especially given the times in which we live. Here I could recount for you the many negative things we encounter daily. But why do that when each and all are well known? It would just be more complaining!

So the opposite effort and objective should be our focus. In doing that – simply making the effort to be positive – we begin to be positive. It helps build a positive frame of mind.

Remember when you first picked up a violin or sat down to a piano and began playing around trying to make a beautiful sound? Or when you sang your first note at school chorus rehearsal? The sound was not at all pleasing, but the sound was something you made. All on your own, well with the help of the instrument of course! But taking the first step was important. Playing that first note, or chord, or singing a little ditty that became much more successful with practice.

And practice we did. Until we had the piece memorized; then practiced for accuracy, then for tone, and finally for expressive wholeness. When we played that music in our first recital or concert, something amazing happened. We made music. WE MADE MUSIC. And although it appeared to be by magic we knew otherwise. We knew we had put forth an effort and something quite good resulted.

The result was good. It was positive. We did something that sounded good and pleased others. We were not detracting from anyone else; we were not being negative. We were making a pleasant sound that would move others.

Have you attended a concert that closed your throat in a silent sob? Emotion spilled over, eyes misted, breathing irregular. Music had captured our attention. We had submitted to the sounds and emotion of the art. We were transported to another place. A very special place.

Many years later as adulthood swamped my musical endeavors of youth, music making was rich and rewarding. Emotional content welled up in the music. Expression of that emotion became the message, the tempo, timbre and art of it all became one with the performance – whether solo or ensemble – the music making was magical and successful. The audience was moved. So were the performers.

That's how it goes when we seek to do the positive. The acts provide the energy to propel us toward success. I have witnessed this in school rooms, concerts, laboratories, churches, work places and family gatherings. How many volunteer groups do you belong to? How many miracles have you produced together with those group members? And how often? Over and over I bet.

We can choose to do nothing. We can choose to do something. We can be involved or not in the community around us. Being in the lives of others is much more rewarding and productive than being a lone wolf.

Suggestion: turn off the TV and pick up a book. Or maybe turn on the computer and form a question you've long had in the back of your mind. Express it in writing, then type it in to Google and see what happens. Did you get answers to your question? Did you learn that your question could mean several different things? And that each of those meanings had to be explored and eliminated or retained in our research. In the end, what did we learn? More than if we had not started the exploration at all!

Something from nothing. Know more than when you started out. Acquire skills that I didn't have before. Do things I never dreamed I could.

All it takes for this progress is a little kernel of positive thinking. A conscious decision to avoid the negative and pursue the positive has made a difference in my life and perhaps in yours.

Where it all leads is the mystery begging to be allowed.

Will we? Allow it? To happen?

I hope so.

January 4, 2016