KYGO Denver PD Joel Burke has authored another great piece to share……..

TELL ME SOMETHING GOOD!
By Joel Burke

I flipped on the television the other night and began clicking through the endless channels.  My choices were either reality shows or one program after another featuring bad news or trashy gossip. It made me wonder if there’s anything good happening!

So, in my next round of weekly meetings with each person who works for me, I started off by asking them to tell me something good that had happened to them in the past week, no matter how big or how small!

One person after another gave me a blank stare.  Each one tilted their head and looked away like a dog that hears a high-pitched sound. It was as if I was asking for the solution to a chemistry problem.   After some prodding and asking questions, I finally began to hear a trickle of thoughts, dripping out like a slow leaky faucet.

This weeklong experiment showed me that if I asked people to talk about “something bad” that had happened in the past week, the responses would be swift.  I’m sure I would hear every detail, and that water faucet would be turned on full blast.  

Why do we remember and dwell on every bad experience that comes along no matter how big or how small? And why, at the same time, can’t we remember when someone at the grocery store let us cut in line because we had fewer items?
 

It really comes down to our choice of perspective.  If we believe the statement “if it weren’t for bad luck I’d have no luck at all,” aren’t we in some strange way actually looking for the bad stuff?

At the moment our alarm clock rings each morning, we have a choice to make. Which airplane will we decide to board today?  They both take off at the same time, and fly at the same speed and at the same altitude.

One plane carries all the bad experiences we’ve had lately. The other plane carries the good cargo, all our good experiences from the past week.

All of us can easily fall into the trap of buying the same ticket every morning on the plane carrying the bad cargo. Once that becomes a habit, we can easily develop a negative attitude and go out of our way to focus, dwell and drown ourselves with those thoughts.

Without a doubt, bad things come along in life and some of them are emotionally draining and challenging. They are inevitable, part of the great adventure known as life.  What isn’t inevitable is our attitude toward the situation - we have a choice as to which plane to board.  When good things come along, we must recognize them for what they are and enjoy them. Like a dry flower bed finally getting water, soak it up!

Which plane do you want to board today?

Make a list of five good things that have come your way in the past week.  Look at the list and reflect on each one. You’ll be well on your way to flying high on the “good cargo” plane!