The 500 Good Things Challenge

500 Good Things! Now there’s a challenge. On paper or on computer, challenge your family to work together to name 500 good things: a piece of music, a ladybug you saw, a kind word offered, a surprise, getting out of bed in the morning or going to bed at night. Good things don’t have to be complex. The little joys in life are what we need to notice and cherish.

 

We as human beings are hard-wired to notice and remember what is wrong and dangerous and frustrating. It’s a survival thing. Cave men & women needed to feel alarm and remember danger when lions and mammoths were near. Through the generations, we have needed that sense of alarm for our survival and well-being. Watch the evening news and most of it is about the new perils and dangers in the world. Alarm is ingrained in us and in our society.

 

BUT this hard-wired alarm can also be bad for us. With natural alarm created by disaster, tragedy and loss filling our lives, the whole world can start to feel horrible. At home & at work, we begin to only notice what is wrong, what hasn’t been done, what is missing & what is bad. We fall into constant criticism of ourselves, our spouses, our friends & our children.

 

The alarm created in us by disaster, tragedy and loss also amplifies the anxiety we feel when we hear about other alarming situations such as ISIS or Ebola. Our alarm increases until it is off the scale. Use of drugs, alcohol and smoking (along with other addictions) goes up to medicate and numb the alarm. Our children pick up on our alarm and are even more alarmed because the ones upon whom they depend for love, food & shelter are so stressed. They learn to see the world as dangerous and bad, even when that isn’t the whole truth.

 

So how do we get out of this cycle, so that alarm goes back to being helpful and not destructive to ourselves and our families? We are offered a spiritual practice within the Way of Jesus (and in many other faiths). Over and over again scripture speaks of “Praising God” for the beauty and goodness around us. In the New Testament, we are challenged to “give thanks in all circumstances” and “in everything, give thanks to God.”

 

While alarm is hard-wired into our systems, as human beings we can choose other ways of being. As followers of the Way of Jesus, we can choose to notice what is good, to give thanks even in devastating circumstances, to offer gratitude to God in everything. This takes practice. We may not feel thankful but we look for something for which to offer gratitude (to God, to another person or to ourselves). We may not feel happy, but we choose to look for what is good. Action precedes the feeling. Noticing what is good takes practice.

 

So I invite your household to start the 500 Good Things list. 500 seems huge, but it is meant to be huge. There is abundant good in our lives and this challenge is to notice that abundance of grace and goodness. There truly is much for which we can offer gratitude even in the midst of having lost so much and experienced so much devastation. Praise God!

 

Last modified on Saturday, 18 May 2024