I remember flipping through the pages of Highlights magazine as kid when it arrived at my house to get to what I considered the whole reason we got it in the first place...the hidden picture game. The pictures were always a scene with a family doing some activity together. Depending on the time of year, they might be flying a kite, raking leaves or sledding. The trick was looking into the scene and finding the hidden items, the "treasure" somewhat obscured by the picture in front of you. Of course today there are whole books dedicated to this pursuit with brilliant photography and various themes, my son even recently showed me an App on his i-pod that had hidden treasures in the scene leading you to clues and eventual escape from a mummies tomb. Much more sophisticated these days, but the concept is still the same - look closer at what is right there in front of you and see something more.
I have found that life is much the same. In fact those that know me well are accustomed to, if not irrated at times, when in the midst of hating something, or telling me how boring school was, or how awful someone is, or just how hard the life they are currently stuck in is, when I say, "tell me three good things". Maybe they can only come up with three good things relating to the weather, or perhaps it takes a long look at their whole day to find three. If it's a person that's obscuring their view of life, I require three about the individual. Or perhaps there are only three small good things they can barely see in the last hour of what has been an incredibly tough twenty-four.
As this became a habit in my life I found that my own view of the day around me improved as I listened to other's three good things. I found myself texting my children away at college these words, three good things?, when I was having trouble finding three for myself. It wouldn't take long and back across the air waves would come their simple inspiration for the day condensed down text size into three good things. I was instantly uplifted. It was even better if instead of words I received a picture of the sunset they were looking at, or their crazy friends they were laughing with.
It was then that this idea began to formulate. The idea that maybe in some small way we could make a difference in more than just our small circle of acquaintances if we spread this concept of three good things over the internet - to the world, so to speak...so here we go.
Got three of your own to share?