What Do You Notice?

By Steve Gwisdalla

I heard a quote the other day and I cannot unhear it. We in the Tribe of Up advocate for more joy, seek and spread happiness wherever and whenever possible and do our best to support and uplift our up tribe.

Now for the quote. “Maybe the amount of good things in your life is your ability to notice them.” Yes, this was a scrolling meme I saw. Yes, it seems obvious. Without me consciously knowing it, my mind has been having a think on it since I read it. Turn on the news for 6 minutes at any time of day. What do you notice? What are they showing you? What do they want you to focus on? Listen to any politician for 6 minutes at any time of day. Same questions.

My friends, the quote above talked about what we notice. When speaking about television, they call it television programming for a reason. Politicians want to point something out, make you afraid of it and tell you who to blame for it. If that is all you notice, what are you programmed to be? The other day, I pulled over and watched a group of young and old kids sledding down the small hill behind our local wellness center. Big kids walking up the hill with their sleds. Little kids sprinting back up. All that mattered to those kids in those moments was going fast down a hill on a sled for a few seconds. That was a good thing. I noticed that good thing. Later at a local store, I overheard the lovely woman behind the counter ask a customer how his wife was feeling. First, how did she know she was sick? Second, she took the trouble to remember. Small town living at its finest. I noticed. That was a good thing. In my truck on the way home, I turned the radio off. No sports talk. No book from Audible. No music or news. I saw a dog chasing the snow coming from a snow blower. I saw a horse staring at me with it’s big horse blanket on its back. I saw the mailman wave at me as he drove past. I noticed all those things. Those were good things.

To truly advocate for more joy, we must find joy to share. We aren’t going to do that watching the news all day. We aren’t going to find it arguing with people about why their political beliefs are wrong. Kids sledding down a hill. A horse out for a winter stroll. A wave by the mailman. I’ll take those any day. If you want more good in your life, notice the good going on all around you. I bet you find more than you ever realized.

Steve is a Dexter resident and the Owner, Chief Awareness Officer and Vice President of Joy Advocacy at Better Place Consulting, a coaching firm specializing in all things people. Reach out at [email protected].