The View From Here

It’s a tough world right now. Here’s how I know:

1. The mayor of the biggest city in my state, Michigan, has been dubbed the definition of a profane word by Esquire magazine for his alleged criminal activity and overall sliminess.

2. People are being shot to death. At church.

3. I was ecstatically thrilled when I saw gas selling at $3.82 a gallon this week.

4. A fifteen year old’s pregnancy has been celebrated on the cover of OK! magazine.

5. Reading the blogs of financial analysts is like reading the obituaries of America’s who’s who of the business world.

6. When a plane gets a gaping hole in its cargo compartment over the middle of the ocean, we have to rule out terrorism first.

But, then again, maybe it’s all in the perspective.

1. Thousands, if not more, teenagers will be foregoing the traditional summer vacation in favor of a get-away centered around improving a community through building houses, creating parks and dispensing food to the needy.

2. A postal carrier placed himself in harms way to save a baby this week by catching her when she was falling out of a window.

3. A New Jersey cab driver returned the 285-year-old Stradivari violin to its Grammy-nominated owner when he forgot the $4 million instrument in the back seat. The incredibly honest cabbie was then treated to a free, private concert for himself and all his cab-driving friends, about two hundred of them.

4. Because of increased production prospects, the price of rice will fall in Japan and worldwide, easing a hunger situation in the country that depends greatly on its harvest of the grain.

5. Even though the church-goer opened fire on members of a Knoxville congregation while they gathered to watch a children’s musical, a good citizen and church usher jumped in front of the gunman and took what would have been a devastating shot at the children. The usher was killed but also saved countless lives.

6. In a new report from Good Morning America, actress Kiera Knightley will not allow a movie studio to enhance her cleavage on movie posters promoting an upcoming flick, because she wants to promote a healthy body image and stand up for herself.

When all the dust has settled, it matters more which perspective you have at the end of the day than the news that you came across. The only way to ensure a good perspective is to be a part of the side that you want to promote. Enjoy good news more than the down-side of life? Be a good-news maker. As educators we already have a leg-up because we contribute to effecting lives everyday. Let’s make sure that we make good things happen, even if that means that we are swimming upstream all day.