Stay Positive- There is GOOD in the world & I can prove it to you

Brought to you by Meant 4 Movement spreading positive thoughts!
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Right now a nation is grieving in the aftermath of a horrible tragedy. People are understandably angry and upset. Saddened for the lives that were lost too soon. Debates over gun control policy and mental health issues in society have cluttered not only my Facebook but my television and dinner conversations too (I am guilty of this as well). While it is understandable that people would need to discuss these issues and I feel it is important for them to be discussed; a person can only hear so much sad news (even if it is part of our reality) before they begin to ask, "where is the good in life?" 

I began to ask myself this question a  few months ago. See, I live in Colorado and my summer was overwhelmed with news of destructive fires, the now famous theater shooting at the Batman midnight premier which took the lives of 12 innocent people including a student at my school, news of missing children like Jessica Ridgeway and Dylan Redwine (who is still missing) were all that seemed to be being talked about. Then  when I heard the horrifying news of yet another school shooting on Friday. I was exacerbated. I wanted to yell "ENOUGH!" I watched the news unfold all day. I finally had to pull myself away just to take a deep breath and remind myself that there is good in humanity. So that is what I wanted to show you as well. Looking back over  this past year even through the though times I distinctly remember so many beautiful, amazing, good, kind moments that have positively impacted me and society. So here they are listed below some are personal to me others were seen perhaps around the world but they all showed me the 'good'. 

I take no credit for stories, videos or photos below that are not my own personal accounts!

1. Starting at the beginning of this Fall semester--probably my most memorable moment on campus was when a homeless man invited me to lunch with him. Yep! You heard me right a homeless man invited me to eat lunch with him on campus at the church that hands out free lunch everyday. \

  2. I spent 2 days volunteering at an awesome awesome event called "Project Homeless Connect." Here I helped walk 3 homeless people around a huge complex that was set up to provide resources to the homeless. I helped one man get free legal aid to help him pay a medical bill after he got major food poisoning. Another man I helped figured out how to get housing assistance and get back on food stamps. I helped a sweet old man who told me about how he used to volunteer with Dig trees Colorado, to get his identification back (he had a very complicated life story). And on the light rail home that day another volunteer confessed to me that he had once been homeless--after his wife died in a car accident he was left taking care of their 7 daughters by himself, then the bad economy hit, he lost his job and the family lost their house-- PHC helped his family and he wanted to return the favor. Another man shared a similar story of how PHC helped him get a job and turned his life around.

3. I had a stranger yell a Rumi quote at my class and it literally changed my life.. "Let the beauty of what you love be what you do; there are a thousand ways to kneel and kiss the Earth."

4. Recently; 

5. Not personal but as a future teacher I was really excited about this positive school! 

6. Again not personal but I like so many others was inspired by this video: Canes Arcade 

Caine's Arcade from Nirvan Mullick on Vimeo.

7. Saw this video of what some college students were doing to spread some holiday cheer in an airport 

8. The people who helped out anyway they could during Hurricane Sandy

9. This was a wall that Texas A&M students created to block the westburo baptist church from protesting a soldiers funeral . 

10. The parents who honesty and thoughtfulness surprised airplane passengers. 

11. The person who passed on the kindness they had received so many years before.

12. This guy. 

13. The military father who still finds time to read a book to his kid. 

14.

15.The man who raised $600,000 for Karen Klein --the bus monitor who was horribly bullied by middle schoolers who then posted a video of the "merciless taunting" online. 

In conclusion folks, my faith has been restored in humanity. No life is not all good but, it's not all bad either and I think we all need to remember that the next time we turn on a TV or start feeling like all is lost in the world because you can always always find good. I encourage you to stay positive and act positively towards others because it will be a ripple effect. I pray for the day that I can watch the news without one sad or disturbing story. 

-A