Tuesday March 22, 2011 #300
“If we look at the world with a love of life, the world will reveal its beauty to us.”
~Daisaku Ikeda
Today I share with you my 300th installment of JAM with Mike, my intention of giving something of myself to you and a growing community of readers. I am grateful that you continue to find value in my writing and that the community of readers continues to grow. Many of you ask me why I continue to write JAMs or how I find time to do so in an extraordinarily busy life. My answer is this:
The world we live in provides ample examples of negative circumstances, the worst of human failings, and bitter disappointments and tragedies. It is easy to be overwhelmed by this and it is exacerbated by a sensationalist media. I feel fortunate that I have always tended to view the world and its people with a sense of hope and wonder, and a real appreciation for the beauty and goodness all around me. When I am overwhelmed with the stresses of work or life’s challenges, I am usually able to remind myself of the infinite amount of goodness, love and beauty and the capacity of people to heal, create, overcome challenges and grow. I am grateful to be alive at what I see as an amazing time and I truly love life. As such, I am able to see and comprehend the beauty of the world. I believe it is my obligation to offer my perspective to the world, to lead a change of minds and hearts.
JAM with Mike is my twice weekly effort to share my hopeful view of life with you and hopefully provide a bit of a lift. It is my invitation to you to process the world around you in a more positive, healthy way. My philosophy is to do more than learn – to share knowledge and to take positive actions to move ourselves and others forward. I hope in some small way, JAM with Mike provides you with some ideas or tools to move forward in your life and to allow you to see, as I do, the beauty in the world.
Things may seem very dark – problems in your own life, as well as global challenges such as the tragedy in Japan, the unrest in Northern Africa and the Middle East, poverty, and more. But within all of these examples, if you are open to it, are amazing stories of heroic deeds, people overcoming challenges, and images of beauty among the ugliness. As someone very close to me recently said,
“On the edge of darkness there is a rainbow.” ~anon
May you see the rainbow and its beauty on the edge of your perceived darkness. If you open your eyes and your heart, you will see.
On to the next 100 JAMs!