Someone told me that when they look around our world, they can’t see any good anywhere anymore. That they live with a broken heart and crushed spirit. That there is so much hatred and pain and suffering all around, they sometimes don’t want to get up in the morning. I don’t need to tell you where this person sees these things. There is trouble in this world, and there are bad people out there, it’s true.

But it’s not the whole story, or the only story, or the story that is worth the greatest of our time and energy.

If the sad things really break our hearts, they will motivate us to shine the best we can in the corner of the world where we have been placed. That’s called purpose, and without it, life gets harder.

I want to encourage that person, and all of us, to look around and see the good. Tell the good stories to your children. There is so much good around us, and we can be the good around others, if we focus on that. If we don’t get up in the morning, we can’t see the good or be the good.

Does my pity and sorrow change the world, or does my goodness change it?

Empathy: caring deeply about others and seeking to relate to their feelings in a way that moves us to help them. Empathy moves us to goodness. Caring about others drives us to get up, show up, and do goodness to them.

If our concern for the sadness that defnitely exists in the world cripples us, instead of sending us to encourage others, then it is self pity and not empathy. If our awareness that not everything and everyone is good causes us to stop seeking good entirely, then it is in fact misdirected.

Because I’m aware that not everything is good in the world, I want to get up in the morning and teach my kids what it means to be the good ones. Because of the beautiful little ones I’m here to protect, love and provide for, I rise and do my best to shine, so they can too. Their laughter brings me joy and in them I see the promise of goodness that is very definitely still in the world. Good not only is still here but is still the greatest force that exists and drives the majority of the people I know.

Don’t you know some pretty good people after all?

The latin phrase “dum spiro spero” means“while I breathe, I hope”.

I woke up this morning with breath in my lungs. My children woke with breath in theirs. If you’re reading this, then so did you. I’m grateful for that. It’s an opportunity to speak and encouraging word. It’s an opportunity to give of our abundance to someone less fortunate. It’s an opportunity to be present for the little ones I’m raising, in the hope that laughing together, reading together, and playing together, I can raise good people who make the world a better place. They already are, in fact, good little people who make the world better, my kids. I’m grateful for that too.

I can’t control that sad and bad things happen. I can only be a force for the good things.

How do we avoid losing hope? We like to talk about hope as if we either have it or we don’t. As if it’s a bird that either perches upon our hearts or flies away without our say so. This is flawed logic.

Hope is something we choose to seek and pursue, to take hold of it and hold on for dear life. We have to be intentional about that. We have to seek hope out.

We seek it in those we love, who love us. We seek it in our own hearts and minds. We seek it in God. We can even seek it on the internet!

One quick search for the words “good news” yields quite a bit.

I heard about a little boy who saved his sisters life.

I heard about multiple occasions where teens rushed into dangerous situations to help others.

…A child with a terminal illness who started a charity to give and encourage to others in the same situation.

…Organizations — people– fighting poverty and hunger.

…Neighbors banding together to help a family who suffered a loss.

…A teacher fostering a student in need (actually, quite a few of them).

…Families showing up every day for their children.

…Teachers working long hours and fighting for their students’ success.

…Nurses and doctors running towards people in dangers that a lot of us would run away from.

…Men and women running into burning buildings, risking their lives and sometimes sacrificing them to save others.

…Men and women standing in the line of fire to protect others.

…People paying other people’s bills in the supermarket, without even knowing that the person they helped needed it more than they knew.

…People surviving against all odds. Hope that we aren’t at the mercy of odds and fates.

Stories like that tell me beyond what I can ignore that there is a Force For Good working among us that is far more powerful than the bad.

There’s so much more. So much more. So much more good than bad in the world. So many reasons to have hope.

None of us who walk through this imperfect world are immune to suffering and struggles. One day I’m helping you, another day you’re helping me. We can only get through this life if we lean on each other, make the good, be the good, and see the good. None of us goes on forever, but we can leave behind some goodness if we choose it.

It starts with us, grassroots individuals in our homes and families, being good people, and raising good people.

Does that mean it’s always easy? NO!

Is it worth it? YES!

The best things are almost always the hardest, and the good is always worth the struggle! ALWAYS!

And here’s the catch, it doesn’t have to be big and it doesn’t have to be loud. There are quiet change-makers everywhere if you look in the right places, just offering a smile, just giving to a friend in need, just writing an encouraging note to a neighbor, just reading to a child, just speaking an uplifting word.

As parents, every day that we wake up breathing is a chance to pour goodness and love into the little humans who are looking to us to show them the good in the world. If we are faithful to carry out this most important duty to the world, we may elevate the goodness and kindness of future generations. What a legacy to leave behind — love for others. Empathy that moves to action. Goodness that walks around and speaks and touches people.

That’s what I want my kids to be, so I have to try and be that each day that I’m breathing. Some days I succeed and some days I fail, like all of us. But if I only see the bad, I might give up. If I focus on the sad, I might become paralyzed. I can lay in bed lamenting that the world isn’t perfect, or I can rise up and shine my light and make it a little more loving and kind. What should I choose?

I choose hope. I choose to see the good. If I hold on to the hope that is in my children, and in my God, and in my choices, then I can act in love and kindness.

Dum spiro spero. While I breathe, I hope.

Be the good, see the good, raise the good. Get out of bed. Rise and shine. Breathe and hope.