A SATISFYING SEARCH

    Recently, as people were leaving a family celebration, I heard someone say the party was “very good”, and I said to myself, “Yes indeed, and so is everything else.” I’ve thought a lot about that over the last few years, because finding something good in everything has slowly become a fundamental goal in my life. It’s not an easy task, not with so much sorrow and mourning in the world, not with misfortunes and disasters seemingly everywhere – but still, it’s a search I’m set on pursuing. I want to uncover goodness even where sadness seems most devastating. I want to see the kindness that’s created right where wickedness has done its worst. This is essentially a first-class universe I’m living in, a place designed far more for success than disappointment, and I’m looking for the successes even inside the disappointments. For sure, I’ve seen my share of sorrow, and sometimes, of course, it’s been hard to see the secret victories concealed beneath it. Where there’s heartbreak, it’s hard to talk of hope; where there’s gloominess inside, as happens to all of us, liking one’s life seems a far distant daydream. However, I continue to be convinced that thoughtfulness and goodwill will give me a new start after every setback. I continue to search for the seeds of goodness that can always push up through the weeds of unhappiness. When things seem bad, compassion is still ready to give me its best. Seeing the goodness sometimes requires a serious search, but for me it’s a stirring and satisfying search.