“Keep your face always toward the sunshine – and shadows will fall behind you.”
—Walt Whitman
I’ve always been a naturally optimistic person. I love sunshine and warm hugs and rainbow-maned unicorns, and I’d much rather be friends with everyone than stay guarded behind a pair of cynical eyes. That being said, there is something in the air that snags each of us at one time or another, working to convince us otherwise. Work piles up when our backs are turned, tiny children refuse to sleep, we’re nearly killed as a fellow driver merges into traffic with a bigger agenda than our own, and the list of small frustrations compounds into pervasive pessimism.
I’m an addicted avid listener of NPR and truly enjoy following what’s happening in my small pond as well as the bigger one, but with all of the “latest and most noteworthy news” being shared across air waves and social media there seems to be quite a gaping hole where the joy should be. Even without the addition of the latest celebrity scandal, in-your-face politics, and tragedy of natural disaster, daily life is sometimes a heavy and daunting thing. As neighbors, citizens, and ultimately the human race it’s easy to slip into feeling divided, isolated, and like the world and its devious occupants are out to get us, that it’s every man for himself.
Happily, the reality is most emphatically the opposite: most hearts are good and want to spread that goodness any way they can. It seems to me that, in the midst of the nerve-wracking and ominous, there is urgent need for a healthy dose of sunshine. And so, in response to the face palms and little black rainclouds that follow from one media station to another, I offer you seven reasons to smile and reassurance the world is lovely and more selfless and united a place than not.
Let’s start with one that’s easy, even adorable. Did you know that every year, when endangered baby sea turtles are at their most vulnerable, teams of NPS biologists create a predator-protected runway on San Padre Island for the babies to make it safely into the Gulf of Mexico? Their invested time and effort results in a huge boost to a dwindling species, not to mention a delightful video that I guarantee you will watch at least three times in a row.
Speaking of saving sweet little babes, if you ever read Charlotte’s Web, you will be thrilled to know that the same sort of piggy rescue has happened again—only this time the runt’s name is Cameron, and he loves not only the woman who saved him, but the tiny stuffed hedgehog that is his new best friend.
On the daily, our kids are regular contributors to the fatigue and “mommy fog” we long to escape. But stories like William spending his hard-earned allowance on lunch for his local police force are full of hope that maybe—just maybe—all of those motherly lessons on generosity and sharing really do sink in.
Before having kids, I’m pretty sure I had no idea how much I would want to change the world for them, how seeing them nervous, lonely, or struggling to make friends would pull at my heart, and how much I would wish to be there to cheer and love them through every day of it. These men knocked it out of the park, in my opinion, when they organized a massive cheering section at their local elementary school to welcome the kids back on their first day.
When life hits hard or natural disaster strikes, it is always incredible to me to see how those reaching out do so in the way they know best. For the Chow Train, Mercy Chefs, and Kneaders Bakery that means putting on an apron and getting to work in the kitchen. Serving meals to hungry San Antonio residents, raising funds and heading out to give flood relief in Louisiana, or baking sweet blue elephants to raise money for child cancer research are more reminders that we are about much more than making a profit.
The combination of art, food donation, and clever puns is still more reason to smile and come together. The 11th annual San Antonio Canstruction event is on display at North Star Mall, where local building design teams produce incredible displays made entirely of canned foods for the enjoyment of the public. Awards are given, and at the end of the day every can is delivered to the San Antonio Food Bank.
And if I don’t have you smiling yet, here is one more thought to tip the scales: Did you know that squirrels plant thousands of new trees each year, simply by forgetting where they have buried their acorns? For a scatterbrained mom who forgot to sign the release form, pack snacks for the fourth day in a row, and lost her keys before morning carpool, that kind of hope is real.
