{"id":1178,"date":"2014-05-17T17:37:42","date_gmt":"2014-05-17T17:37:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/?p=1178"},"modified":"2014-05-12T18:20:03","modified_gmt":"2014-05-12T18:20:03","slug":"finding-something-good","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2014\/05\/finding-something-good.html","title":{"rendered":"Finding Something Good"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Image<\/a>
Image courtesy of graur codrin\/FreeDigitalPhotos.net<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A cheerful glance brings joy to the heart;<\/p>\n

Good news invigorates the bones.<\/p>\n

Proverbs 16:30<\/p>\n

Whether personal or of the world, there is no lack of bad news feeding our lives and hearts. Of late, I’m facing a couple of serious diagnoses, additional to those I’m already grappling with. In world news, we are all aching for the girls who have been kidnapped, the victims of severe weather, and other tragedies.\u00a0But just as our lives are complex, so too should be the balance we purposefully bring to them. Yes, it can be difficult to see beyond the bad. But as people of Easter, people of faith, we are called to do just that.<\/p>\n

This simple Scripture reading is front and center on my work desk these days, a testament to the importance of good news as an antidote and protection against the negative effects of all bad news darkening our lives. I especially like the second line: “Good news invigorates the bones.” Truly, we cannot do away with bad news, and sometimes we have to face it head on and ride through a sea of murk and gloom. But to do this with courage and strength, to not sink down hopelessly, we have to hold onto something good, something of light, something of God.<\/p>\n

Is it a cheerful glance from a loved one that can bring you today’s good? Is it an uplifting news story of bravery? Have you lived a very inspiring time, and can the memory of that fuel your determination to seek and find another?<\/p>\n

Can you see the good in the natural world, the sky, the flowers? Can you hear the good in the laughter of children, unaffected by the negativity that draws you down and, thus, proving that the world is not all awful?<\/p>\n

Darkness can drag us down. Bad news or a bad day can make us want to cower and cringe. But if we make the effort and seek that one good thing each day, we can counteract the effect of darkness and thrive in light.<\/p>\n

Find something good today. Cherish it. Thank God for it. Use it as your weapon against darkness – and be strong.<\/p>\n

Blessings for the day,<\/p>\n

Maureen<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A cheerful glance brings joy to the heart; Good news invigorates the bones. Proverbs 16:30 Whether personal or of the world, there is no lack of bad news feeding our lives and hearts. Of late, I’m facing a couple of serious diagnoses, additional to those I’m already grappling with. In world news, we are all…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":548,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,43,4,379,83],"tags":[151,1046,1045,1048,2123,2122,46,50,457],"class_list":["post-1178","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-chronic-pain-and-illness","category-encouragement-in-life","category-words-of-encouragemnent-and-info-for-all","category-lupus-2","category-scripture-and-us","tag-bad-days","tag-bad-news","tag-finding-goodness","tag-gods-good","tag-good","tag-goodness","tag-hope","tag-living-with-illness","tag-strength"],"yoast_head":"\nFinding Something Good - Good Days...Bad Days With Maureen Pratt<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2014\/05\/finding-something-good.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Finding Something Good - Good Days...Bad Days With Maureen Pratt\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A cheerful glance brings joy to the heart; Good news invigorates the bones. 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She expected to be writing scripts. God had other plans. A few years after her graduation, Maureen was diagnosed with a life-threatening case of organ-involved lupus. Her life turned upside down as she grappled with the effects of the illness and other health conditions that ensued. She was no stranger to serious health challenges; even as a child, Maureen had survived numerous bouts of pneumonia, flu, and other infections. But lupus made her take a fresh look at her life goals - and took herlifelong, strong Catholic Christian faith and writing in a direction she'd never imagined. Today, Maureen writes and speaks about walking with the Lord while living with chronic pain and illness. Her most recent book is \"Don't Panic!: How to Keep Going When the Going Gets Tough (Franciscan Media). She is also the author of, \"Peace in the Storm: Meditations on Chronic Pain & Illness\" (Image Books\/Randomhouse), \"Beyond Pain: Job, Jesus, and Joy\" (Twenty-Third Publications), \"The First Year: Hypothyroidism, Second Edition\" (Perseus) and \"Taking Charge of Lupus: How to Manage the Disease and Make the Most of Your LIfe.\" She writes the syndicated column, \"Living Well,\" for Catholic News Service, and has also written for Saint Anthony Messenger Magazine, Journey for Women Magazine, The Upper Room Magazine, LupusNow, and Arthritis Today. Maureen's health continues to be a challenge, however she feels honored to be able to bring her perspective, from experience and knowledge, to others. \"Good Days...Bad Days with Maureen Pratt\" is a new way for Maureen to reach people who carry the burden of illness and pain in their lives, or who care for someone who does. Through the blog, she hopes to bring issues of health, wellness, and spirit into focus and, especially, inspire others that, no matter what health challenges, illness, or hardships they endure, each person can find a good way to realize the wonderful potential God has placed within each heart and soul.","sameAs":["http:\/\/www.maureenpratt.com"],"url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/author\/mpratt"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1178","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/548"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1178"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1178\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1179,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1178\/revisions\/1179"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1178"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1178"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1178"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}