Jeremy C Kester

I’ve been working on telling my son this: positive thoughts will bring positive results. I believe my wife was the one that said it in those words, but the lesson is the same.

We all can run towards negative thoughts. It’s easy. Criticism is easy. Doubt is easy. Turning towards fear and anger is easy. I don’t have to point much to show examples in our lives where this proves true. It is an easy set of emotions to play upon.

I’ve been trying to choose different. I’ve been trying to look at the positive rather than the negative. Mistakes are not something bad, but rather an opportunity to learn, thus a positive thing. It is surprising that when you look at life in this way, everything becomes more open.

Look the other way, however, and you will struggle to see different.

In Avatar: the Last Airbender (a cartoon), Uncle Iroh, was known for saying tidbits of wisdom. But it wasn’t until his appearance in the Legend of Korra where he said something that totally struck me. It was this statement below that hit me.

“…you will find that if you look for the light, you can often find it. But if you look for the dark, that is all you will ever see.”

I don’t know what it was other than just being the right time. And although it didn’t get me right away, it stuck with me.

I urge everyone to look at the light. I know that darkness is tempting. I know. Resist it though. Look at the bright side of things. Look at the positive.