I just love positive people, don’t you? Positive people doing positive things, and sharing positive thoughts. They brighten a room when they walk in because they always have a positive outlook on life. Never the critic, always the ray of sunshine.
We all know negative people as well. The ones committed to spreading the bad news. Nobody wants to be around them. Heck, over the years, I’ve stopped watching the news on TV because it’s overwhelmingly depressing.
Most of the time, I get my news while running the treadmill at the Gym. I also read a lot of news. The USA Today is my favorite because it always makes me feel like I’m on vacation. I try to keep up with what’s happening as much as I can. But except for major stories, I choose what type of news I allow in my mind, and who I allow to put it there.
Particularly in sweeps month on TV, if you watch the news programs religiously, you’re going to think that the world has gone to Hell – and taken you with it. That’s because TV news (and to a lesser extent print media) makes its living out of selling you “dramatic” news. In sweeps month, that trend is doubled… or tripled. Everything that turns up on the news is going to be hyped with crazed voices telling you of the troubles that lie in your path.
You know, sometimes it’s very difficult to stay positive… and yet, it’s incredibly important that we keep moving in a positive direction.
Life is meant to be lived – and lived to its fullest. That means different things to different people. To some people, “living life to its fullest” may mean a life dedicated to partying, while to others, it might mean a life dedicated to public service. Whatever way you might go, it’s up to you to set your destination in life and then keep on the path to your destination, no matter what negative elements might pop up in the meantime.
When we set off on a trip, we’re constantly bombarded with billboards that try and lure us off the roadway. Sometimes, those billboards help us along the way. Sometimes, they lure us to places we wouldn’t ordinarily go.
But unlike our trip analogy, the difference is, even with all those billboards, we still seem to get to our destination… at least most of the time. In our life, those same diversions can get us off track… off the path, and keep us from making it to our destination.
Now, let me make this clear… I’m not saying that all of these diversions are the responsibility of the news media, billboard companies, entertainment, religion, detours, or anything else.
I’m saying that we are the ones who have to take the responsibility for keeping us on track in a positive direction… and then if (or when) we get off track, bringing us back on the correct path to our destination.
It’s easy to get diverted, sidetracked, and detoured. Sometimes, it’s flat-out difficult to stay on the right path.
But even if we take a wrong road occasionally, if we keep our destination clear, it’s easy for us to bring ourselves back on a path that will lead us to where we seek to go.
Negative diversions, no matter what they are, aren’t really the culprit here. We choose where to go, what path to take, and what road to follow. We choose our destination and then choose to either divert from that road or follow a path to where we want to wind up.
Detours and wrong turns are a part of life… but if we keep a positive destination in our “life’s GPS,” we’ll be all right.
TERRY Talks 