GOOD NEWS !!  NO REALLY.  NOTHING BUT GOOD NEWS HERE!

1.Damar Hamlin is alive and well. This was probably a combination of extremely good and fast medical care, the fact that he was in exceptional physical shape, and also the cumulative prayers of the nation. 

No one needed to be a Bills’ fan to be celebrating his recovery. The tragedy of those seconds and the days to come brought the country together for a while. Your political party or NFL team loyalty did not matter. Everyone was focused on #3. Tough football players cried and comforted each other. Cheering turned into stark silence. Many lives changed forever at that moment. 

Days later Damar returned to his life.  He faced (faces) a long journey ahead but not the journey most had expected when he had fallen to the ground on the field. Most people learned some important life lessons in the following days.

2.The Flying Car has been invented! And it’s powered by renewable energy! It can fly or be driven on land. Going speeds from 0-60 in just 2 seconds gets you wherever you’re going fast. Reducing pollution AND traffic? Oh did I say renewable energy? And it’s going to fly? Alright, this might not be great news. But it sure sounds good.

3.Cobra Kai released season 5! And the final season (6) is sealed and WILL be delivered. Depending on your sense of humor: History of the World, Part II Season 1 is starting now. 

4.More than ⅕ of all electricity in the US is now coming from hydropower, wind, and solar. 

5.A LOT of jobs are still remote. In many ways good news, but not in all ways. 

6.The rains have resulted in a mushroom explosion in California. For science?

7.An 80 year old janitor in Texas is so loved that high school students raised almost $300,000 so he could retire. 

8.Foo Fighters’ Dave Grohl barbequed from start to finish for over 24 hours at a homeless shelter in LA. for love not glory.

9.A man received more than his breakfast sandwich in the McDonalds’ bag given to him in the drive through.  There were baggies of bills adding up to $5,000.00. He pulled over and (painfully lol) asked if they meant to give him that bag. Jobs could have been lost over that so that was very good news for the crew. The Manager rewarded him with $200.00 and free McD’s for a month. (I know. Is that all? A month? Lol. But good news for McD’s and just feeling good that honest people are around us).

10.One of my favorites: A Dominican man who was “lost at sea” for 24 days was rescued. When it was revealed (ala Facebook) that he survived on a bottle of Heinz ketchup, Heinz stepped in and offered to buy him a new state of the art boat. They couldn’t find him to tell him that so put the word out on social media. They finally just found him and Elvis Francois is about to be gifted a brand new boat. Yes, good ad!?

I will stop here because it could go on and on but the message is there is so much good news around us that we are not aware of. In my opinion that is one positive aspect of social media that we would not get the chance to experience otherwise. Just as media can affect its users negatively, this is an upside. The internet has “good news” sites but we do have to be careful not to get onto a sketchy path. YouTube (etc.) has endless good news animal videos, dance videos that make us smile and feel good, and just good news stories that don’t make our headlines. Stories of everyday people. 

We are so sheltered in our homes, and now with so many remote jobs it is even more so. Face to face “talking” is becoming less and less a common daily experience. What’s new? Sitting with friends over coffee. Just plain getting together socially with friends and family. This can’t become part of our past. It seems that way when people are texting even when in a circle of friends. They must talk to THOSE friends or family members when they are with OTHER people! 

We do need our phones for sure but not as the center of our lives. Ask people you know for some GOOD NEWS when you see them. Sit down and listen to it. Some people don’t want to hear good news. So if you ask them and they relay good news to you just enjoy it. But don’t share your good news unless you’re asked. Hopefully you will be asked! 

It is a sad situation when we feel we can’t share our good news with certain people because for various reasons they are not receptive to it. But if your good news is not personal, that is very different. We all want to share good experiences with friends and family but we realize some take it as bragging or being insensitive to others’ situations. So it’s a good idea to keep it general, like sometimes instead of talking politics or economy, exchange good news. Funny, feel good stories.

There are so many issues to be concerned about in the world around us, try to keep your eyes, ears and hearts open to good news. You’ll live longer.