Creating Good News Out of Bad News

“I recently received an advertisement for a how-to book about health. On the cover of the brochure was emblazoned the words, ‘READ THIS OR DIE.’ I didn’t read it and I didn’t die!” Susan wrote in Embracing Uncertainty.

How often do we come across headlines, advertisements, videos, social media posts, and more that are meant to scare us. In the attention economy, fear mongering grabs eyes and makes money. The more frightened we are, the more likely we will want to buy their product, support their cause or their popularity. This bombardment of scare tactics makes us feel like there is always impending doom and danger. Susan said, “No wonder we have trouble embracing uncertainty…there only seems to be danger ahead!”

Yet most of us do not live with any real danger around us. How many days go by without the world ending? Or even something closer to home, like a car accident or a break-in? Most of us will spend 95% of our lives just living our day-to-day life without anything truly terrible happening.

Even without watching or listening to the news or doom scrolling through social media, we sabotage ourselves when we let our thinking, our Chatterbox, feed us constant bad news about how our lives aren’t working and how disastrous everything feels. “When we carry a DANGER AHEAD sign in our heads it is really a form of self-sabotage,” said Susan. “The reality is that most of what we worry about never even happens.”

Not only do we need to turn off our electronics, put the newspaper in the recycle bin, and control our negative thoughts, in order to really make the best of what we have, we need to actively see the good. “I refuse to give up my power to find the good news that is always there in unbelievably large measure. While we are wise to take certain protective measures relative to what is happening in our world, we are also wise to understand that it is all a guessing game. And why not ‘guess’ good news instead of bad news?” Susan wrote.

The fact is…there is so much good news around us
that it would stagger the imagination, that is,
IF WE PAID ATTENTION!

Instead of imagining dangerous situations surrounding us, we need to see that we are surrounded by blessings. Susan said, “There is no question that the world gives you the message, DANGER AHEAD. I’ll bet you’ve never seen the message JOY AHEAD. So it’s up to us to create that scenario for ourselves. We should put a sign everywhere we can see it…JOY AHEAD!”

To counter all the “danger” signals we receive, Susan suggested substituting the word “Joy” for “Danger” whenever we can. This idea is an expansion on Susan’s Pain-to-Power Vocabulary lesson. Words have power and the way we use them can impact the quality of our lives. While Joy-to-Danger isn’t a one-to-one exchange, it can help us to see the value of finding good even in the bad. Susan wrote, “Of course, there are times when it is essential to heed the DANGER AHEAD sign that tells us there is a problem on the road ahead, but we should be filled with JOY that someone put the sign there to warn us! See, you can make good news out of anything.”

We can also take it upon ourselves to spread good news. There is the Universal Law of “like attracts like,” so when we become the bearers of good, we are more likely to get back more good. Susan suggested two ways of doing this: affirmations and giving thanks.

We all know the power of repeating affirmations. Affirmations can help replace negative thoughts, improve self-confidence, to remind you to be a good news spreader, and create positive energy that will touch everyone you meet. To help spread good in the world, Susan suggested these affirmations:

I radiate light and love wherever I go.
I see the good in all things.
My actions put healing energy into the world.

Another way to help promote the spread of good news is to thank those who help spread good news. Here, we aren’t necessarily talking about news, we’re talking about anyone who is a positive force. This could be a server in a restaurant who was really understanding or a mailperson delivering an important package. It could be your doctor helping you through a tough illness, a friend who finds the positive even on the most frustrating day, or anyone who is an example of a loving and caring person. Reach out to these people and thank them. As Susan said, “People are so used to getting complaints; a compliment is a blessing.” Reaching out to spread your thanks is a wonderful way to spread good news.

This is just a small taste of all the positivity you can bring to the constant bombardment of danger, danger, danger messages we receive. It’s up to each of us to find the joy. Even when bad things do actually happen, which is a certainty in life, they can be handled in a life-affirming way. Susan wrote, “I’m sure you can think of many people who have experienced great difficulty, even tragedy, and with their uplifting attitude, they were able to turn the bad news into good news. They have learned that no matter what happens, we can create a JOY AHEAD world for ourselves…and that’s REALLY good news!”