Here’s a story of a group of climbers who did everything right and, as a result, survived a 500-foot slide down the side of Mt. Hood and a night of “hellacious” winds and snow. Not only did they bring along cell phones and mountain locator units to be sure they could be found in case of emergency, they also brought along Velvet, a black Labrador who lay across them during the freezing night and is credited with quite possibly having saved their lives.
(AP News)
“The Australian government on Tuesday announced plans to phase out incandescent light bulbs and replace them with more energy-efficient compact fluorescent bulbs, like this dimmable CF Warm Glow bulb, across the country. Legislation to gradually restrict the sale of the old style could reduce Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions by 4 million tons by 2012 and cut household power bills by up to 66 percent, said Environment Minister Malcolm Turnbull.” (full story- AP)
Almost 9,000 men, women and children layed down in a snowy field in North Dakota to make snow angels, and break a world record in the process. Among those waving their arms and legs in the snow was a 99-year-old woman who said, "It’s fun! I feel just like a kid." (AP reports, with photo)
"Scientists have found new autism genes by scanning the largest collection of families with multiple cases of autism ever assembled. The monumental task of studying the 1,200 families took more than 120 scientists from more than 50 institutions across 19 countries. The work, described in Nature Genetics, implicates a specific gene called neurexin 1," and experts say the findings should enable new autism treatments. (BBC)
A chorus of 40 arabic and 40 jewish children sing John Lennon’s “Imagine” led by 16-year-old Israeli singing sensation, Liel. The venue was a 2004 gala celebration for Shimon Peres’ 80th birthday and Liel invited a famous guest on stage to sing along.
Stoops, otherwise known as the front steps, used to be busy with families hanging out and kids playing. Today stoops are empty. Three New York Design students, who were mapping a neighborhood, noticed an elderly guy sitting alone who complained no one ever says hi anymore. So, the trio began a campaign with 100 neon flyers instructing people to SIT HERE. Their Web site receives comments from those nostalgic for stoop culture, like "Whenever we played tag with friends, the stoop was always Base." (AP story)
Dick Heibel repairs broken snow globes, bringing joy to those who connect to distant memories through these nostalgic trinkets. Seventy-seven-year-old Heibel lives in Northfield, Minnesota and still remembers his love of snow globes as a child and his fascination:
“To me it’s magical. I guess maybe I never grew out of that...”
From the Field of Positive Psychology — Researchers have discovered that groups are more productive if they focus on the good things already happening, a process some call Appreciative Inquiry. Doug Turner tells us what happened when he opened his monthly leadership meeting by asking for a discussion of what was going right, instead of the usual litany of what was going wrong. The benefits were amazing. “The tone of the rest of the meeting changed completely,” and researchers know why…
I am the voluntary leader of a religious congregation of over 400 members. Like many churches, we have various organizations to meet the needs of our membership, like groups for the young men, the young women, children, single adults, the unemployed, and a Boy Scout Troop. Every other month or so, I invite the leadership of these groups to my office for a stewardship report and update.
Early on, I noticed that the leadership teams came prepared to discuss the things they were struggling with and the things that were going wrong. “Our last activity was a disaster,” or “the attendance at our last meeting was disappointing,” or “we don’t have the volunteers we need to run our program,” were common reports.
If I were to take these reports at face value, I would have to conclude that our congregation was really struggling. However, as I interviewed individual members of our congregation, I heard stories of hope, gratitude, and faith. These stories came from people who were benefiting from the fine work the leadership teams were doing. Something was off.
When the next round of stewardship meetings came up on the calendar I decided to try something a little different. At the beginning of each meeting, I thanked each leadership team for their work and asked them to share three things that they were proud of and that were working well. The reactions and responses were very interesting. Some were absolutely stumped. It was as if they had been so focused on fixing problems that they missed all the wonderful things happening in their organizations. Some thought it was a little odd to talk about the positive things assuming that everyone already knew the good stuff. Others were almost relieved to finally have a forum to share the things they were doing that brought them so much satisfaction.
The Tone of the Meeting Changed Completely
I noticed that by beginning each meeting with the positive, the tone of the rest of the meeting changed completely. Instead of feeling like we were digging out of a hole, we felt like we were on top of a mountain surveying a beautiful landscape. Of course we still discussed the struggles and the challenges, but this discussion came from a much more optimistic and hopeful context and the ideas flowed freely.
Barbara Frederickson and Marcial Losada, both noted researchers in Positive Psychology, have studied this phenomenon. They observed the contrast between flourishing and languishing. Frederickson’s “broaden-and-build theory holds that unlike negative emotions, which narrow people’s behavioral urges toward specific actions that were life-preserving, positive emotions widen the array of thoughts and actions called forth (e.g., play, explore), facilitating generativity and behavioral flexibility.”
(Editor’s translation: People thought more creatively and productively, and danced outside the box!)
They also observed that “high ratios of positive to negative affect (emotion) would distinguish individuals [and teams] who flourish from those who [languish]. Several recent research reviews have concurred that ‘bad is stronger than good.’ The implication is that to overcome the toxicity of negative affect and to promote flourishing, experiences of positivity may need to outnumber experiences of negativity.”
That’s what was happening to the leadership of our church organizations — the toxicity of the negative was overpowering the positive. By simply focusing on the positive first, we began to push back the negative tide.
Making the Good As Strong As the Bad
Losada calculated that the “tipping point” ratio of positive to negative is 2.9013. This means that it takes 2.9 positive feelings, experiences, expressions, thoughts, etc. to fend off the languishing effects of one negative. This 2.9 tipping point is call the Losada Line. His calculations demonstrated the tenets of Frederickson’s broaden-and-build theory. “As predicted by the theory, higher levels of positivity [beyond 2.9 positives to 1 negative] are linked with (a) broader behavioral repertoires, (b) greater flexibility and resilience to adversity, (c) more social resources, and (d) optimal functioning.”
In addition to all this research and science, it’s just more fun to celebrate the positive and the successes. Recognizing what’s working well also recognizes where there is strength. Leaders can then leverage this strength to “broaden and build” their organizations in other areas. I have also noticed that the leaders who continue to languish are still focused on the negative while the leaders who are flourishing — and happy — leverage the positive and keep the negative in perspective.
My “broad-and-build” questions include the following:
Relative to your leadership role…
In the words of an ancient prophet, “…behold I say unto you, that by small and simple things are great things brought to pass…” I hope this helps you to flourish in your leadership roles and to bring to pass great things.
Douglas B. Turner is the Vice President of Human Resources for the Washington, D.C., Metro Division of Centex Construction, LLC. Mr. Turner oversees all aspects of human resources, including leadership, management, employee training and development, team development, employee recruitment and retention, employee relations, and compliance.
In Harry Tucker’s final essay on GRATITUDE, he suggests that you remember the E in gratitude as representing enthusiasm — enthusiasm for every experience, for every opportunity to share, for every opportunity to learn:
“If you observe successful people, one of the things you will notice is their infectious enthusiasm for everything. Every problem is a challenge to be solved, with a reward to be reaped…”
Successful people constantly share ideas and opportunities with others. Nothing stops them. They follow the old adage that failure only occurs when you refuse to get up after having been knocked down.
When you are enthusiastic about life, opportunities open as if by magic. The more you appreciate Life, the more Life rewards you. The more you appreciate and are grateful for what you have, the more Life offers you. If you want a great example of this, follow the model of the “globetrotting grannies” from Newfoundland. These two “young” ladies are young-at-heart and they are proof that when you set your mind to something with enthusiasm, Life rewards you with rich, wonderful experiences. Each of them is in her 70’s and every year, they travel together to a distant and exotic place — Antarctica included!
My partner and I also perform a similar exercise every autumn. We buy some of those fabric, yellow or red leaves, and we write on each one, something we are thankful for. Every year, we joke that there won’t be enough room to contain everything we appreciate. We arrange these leaves on a wreath and hang it in a place of prominence in the house and leave it there for about a month. It always draws people into interesting conversations when they see it. When we take the wreath down, we put the leaves in a dated envelope and keep them. It will be interesting to review those leaves in the future or to leave them to our kids as a reflection on what was important to us at the time.
A Gratitude Reminder Card for You!
I printed a small card that I would like to offer each of you today that you can use as a bookmark, or carry in your wallet as a reminder of the benefits of gratitude. On one side are listed the terms that I associate with gratitude. On the other side, I outlined five ways of staying happy. (For those, I would like to thank Shirley Hong, a person who lives a very positive life and who provided these to me.)
Appearing on the card is a butterfly. The reason I chose a butterfly was to remind us of the butterfly effect. The butterfly effect states that the flapping of a butterfly’s wings in the eastern hemisphere of our Earth is amplified through various natural events to eventually become a hurricane in the other hemisphere of our Earth.
Just as this is the case, I would suggest that a positive act or an act reflecting your gratitude for life is amplified as it is passed from one person to another. So when you perform a good act for someone else, they in turn, empowered by the positive energy, will perform one or more positive acts for others, who in turn will do the same. So the butterfly reminds us about the power of a single act of gratitude.
Also illustrating the card is an image of a water droplet hitting the surface of a pool and spreading in all directions. In a similar vein to the butterfly effect, every positive action that we perform, every positive thought that we have, every act of gratitude that we show, spreads good, positive energy equally in all directions. Others who experience this will in turn perform their own acts that will cause positive energy to radiate from them. There is no limit to how far this positive energy will expand.
I wrote earlier that time is one of the most valuable gifts that can be given to someone. You have given me your time and for that I am extremely grateful. If you would like me to send some free Gratitude Cards, just write to me and I’d be glad to pop them in the mail.
I would like to close this series on Gratitude with some beautiful words from a wise but anonymous person who shared their thoughts over the internet.
Be Thankful Now
Be thankful that you don’t already have everything you desire,
If you did, what would there be to look forward to?
Be thankful when you don’t know something
For it gives you the opportunity to learn.
Be thankful for the difficult times
During those times you grow.
Be thankful for your limitations
Because they give you opportunities for improvement.
Be thankful for each new challenge
Because it will build strength and character.
Be thankful for your mistakes
They will teach you valuable lessons.
Be thankful when you’re tired and weary
Because it means you’ve made a difference.
It is easy to be thankful for the good things.
A life of rich fulfillment comes to those who are
also thankful for the setbacks.
GRATITUDE can turn a negative into a positive. Find a way to be thankful for your troubles and they can become your blessings.
Take care and be well, Harry
________________________
Note From the Editor
Thanks to Harry for sharing his wisdom here at the Good News Network. For free Gratitude Cards, just write to Harry and he will gladly send them. Click on Harry‘s name to read previous gratitude essays.
Zoos and aquariums from around the world are being rallied to collect frog species to build a virtual Amphibian’s Ark of preservation against an epidemic of frog-felling fungus that threatens thousands of species from the American Rocky Mountains to the rice paddies of Japan. The stopgap measure will cost more than $400 million, funds which the Amphibian Ark project will set out to raise. No information on how you can help yet. This portal serves with research links: AmphibianArk.org
"Unless you solve the underlying root problems (of terrorism) like poverty and corruption, you’ve still got a witch’s brew to create another generation of fanatics," says Scott Harrison, a security consultant and a former CIA officer… That’s why, in poor villages in the Philippines, the Pentagon is investing in "targeted projects — a new well, a school classroom, and a $200 tin-roofed communal outhouse, or "comfort room," tucked behind the village market." Gaining the trust of residents here, once considered the second most-important front on terrorism, behind Afghanistan, means this Muslim community is being swayed…
I am concerned. When I turn on my television and see Muslims, I feel scared. I see acts of violence. I hear rants of anger and hate. I see threats and tempers boiling. Muslims do not have a peaceful face on my American TV. They do not appear to be happy people.
I do not doubt these images are real. Several parts of the Muslim world are experiencing unimaginable suffering from war, death, poor human rights and fear from social insecurity. What I know, however, is that these images of anger and hate are not universal traits across the Muslim world. I know this because I recently returned from Muslim lands and I experienced quite the opposite…
New Zealand’s new prime minister today set the ambitious goal of becoming the greenest country in the world, the first to offset all greenhouse gas emissions with sustainable alternatives. (West Australian)
Good news from Bono’s effort to brand red products and funnel a portion of their sales to helping eliminate AIDS in Africa. Motorola and Sprint have announced a milestone in contributions from sales of its Product (RED) multimedia phone. Proceeds from the (RED)-designed phone, since its launch in early November, will cover the annual cost of AIDS anti-retroviral treatment for more than 12,000 people in Africa.
(RED) was founded by Bono and Bobby Shriver last year to raise awareness for the fight against AIDS in Africa, and money for The Global Fund, which invests in African AIDS programs with an emphasis on the health of women and children…
A man fell two miles while skydiving in New Zealand after his parachutes failed to open. The expert jumper landed in a blackberry bush and survived. (MSNBC)
Editor’s Blog
Did you ever wonder where the Top Ten Good News of the Week had gone? The Top Ten list — the best of GNN-i — appeared here on the Web site every week from May 2006 through November (you can find them in the Archives now, all 24 weeks’ worth). Since then, I have continued producing them, but only through my newsletter, which is sent via e-mail once a week. If you want to get on the mailing list, sign up here for the NEWSLETTER. You only need an e-mail (if you also tell us your name, I can include a friendly, "Dear Jake," or whatever, at the top) … People love my "best-of" list sent straight to their Inbox every week. Join the fun! (New issue coming out tonight.)
Buying organic is becoming a global phenomenon and because "it takes a third of a pound of pesticides to produce one cotton T-shirt," organic cotton is becoming a sensible choice for consumers — and the big clothing chains that follow their lead. Target, H&M, Nike, Wal-Mart, and now, Victoria’s Secret are all jumping on the organic cotton bandwagon … (right, organic "Double V Yoga Top" by Gaiam, $15.99)
“Negotiators from six countries reached a tentative agreement about initial steps for North Korea’s nuclear disarmament, the first concrete steps achieved in nearly three years of negotiations.” (NewsHour on PBS)
College athlete, Khaliq Gant, never gave up after his collision on a basketball court left him paralyzed. He’s become an inspiring example of recovery: “There’s no wheelchair. No cane. Not even a distinguishable limp.” (Ithaca Journal)
