Righting The Wrongs

A brand new year is starting so it’s a good time to reflect on all that’s happened over the past 12 months. I don’t actually like to dwell on the past because I prefer to be constantly looking forward but it is a good idea to take stock from time to time of what’s happened in my life and what I’ve learned from it.

As I think back on 2015, three bad things stand out. 1) From a world view standpoint, there’s a lot that went wrong including terrorist attacks right here in nearby San Bernardino. 2) At the local level, a close friend of mine was laid off at his company where he worked for over 35 years. It turns out the owner laid off everyone over 50 so that he could improve his bottom line. 3) On a personal level, one of my best friends turned his back on me, and of course the motivation behind it was money.

All three of those events could easily make me lose my faith in humanity…but not if I take the time to reflect on what went right. 1) Recently my wife and I drove through a Del Taco Restaurant and when I handed the man at the window my money, he told me to keep it because the people in the car ahead of us paid our bill. I guess it was a random act of kindness and I don’t know why they did it, but it sure made us smile! 2) Not long ago I was visiting a customer and as I was leaving he handed me a box of expensive ballasts. He said he had accidentally received them by mistake and wanted to return them to us. What a nice surprise! 3) Last week I was at Trader Joe’s and my bill came to exactly $25.00. I handed the cashier a twenty and a five and as I grabbed my bag to leave, she said, “Wait, you gave me an extra $20 bill”, and handed it back to me. Honesty is always surprising…but it shouldn’t be!

You could easily make the argument that the three things above that went wrong were worse than the three things that went right, but that’s not the point. The point is that when we look back on life, we need to realize that a lot of things do go right on a daily basis and that there are a lot more good people in this world than bad. If we make it a point to notice the positive things that happen in life and pay attention to all the good people that surround us, we can’t help but feel good about the world we live in.

So what did I learn from looking back at 2015? I learned that there are always going to be bad people who do wrong no matter what. And while we might not be able to right those particular wrongs, we can go out and do our best to do what’s right by everyone we come in contact with. You know that old saying, “Two wrongs don’t make a right.” Well maybe it should be “Two rights can overcome a wrong!”