I’ve Got A Feeling

This may not be a particularly popular viewpoint or very trendy.

But I have a good feeling about 2012. I think it is going to be an exceptional year.

I realize the prevailing thought patterns like to believe otherwise.

Our culture seems to prefer to obsess over all that is not right with the world. The media is convinced we respond better to bad news than good. and so inundate us with headlines designed to make us tune in, turn on, and click through by  boasting how bad things are and how much worse they will get. They feed on our obsessions, sometimes forcing us to pay attention to what we don’t want to. We have 24/7 News that repeats the same handful of  sad stories while ignoring the multitudes of good  that never get reported.  And because we do watch and listen and read on-line and off-line what they serve up,  we get more of it.

I am as guilty as the next person when it comes to wanting to know the details behind that doomsday promotional tease.

But I find more and more, especially when I follow the story through to the end, it has little substance. Or it gives me no new news or insight. It lacks adequate factual research. Plus it makes me feel bad. And rather helpless.

And I am not helpless, nor are any of us.

I have a good feeling about 2012 because I know I can make a difference, I can create my own change in my little corner of the world.  I can have a positive effect on the direction things are going. It doesn’t have to be launching a new campaign to end world hunger or writing another book, although it can be. It can also be as simple as behavioral changes.

Like making an effort to say please and thank-you more often.

Telling someone you love them on a day that isn’t Valentine’s Day. Smiling at a stranger.  Saying I’m sorry when you bump me not once, not twice but three times in an aisle at Whole Foods. Not supporting a product or media outlet whose approach you find offensive. Supporting the ones whose direction you like. Voting. Look for the good in the world. Yes, there is  good to be found. Believing you can change the world.

I’m immersed in the Steve Jobs biography at the moment.

One of the things Walter Isaacson constantly refer to is what was termed Jobs “reality distortion field.” When Steve was looking through that lens people didn’t know what to do. They didn’t have the ability to see as he did. They saw what they thought was reality which was usually synonymous with “that’s impossible”. But Jobs saw what he would make his reality or what I like to call the “why not?” option.

So that is how I am going to approach this year.

At times you may think I am living in my own “reality distortion field.” And I may be. But the only way to change what is, is by seeing what can be and then taking those steps to make the “distortion” real.

Change in your own world will have an effect on the larger world. As long as you believe.

What are you feeling about 2012?
What changes do you want to make?