They’re all around us: beautiful sights. Don’t need to stand on the lip of the Grand Canyon or stare transfixed at the aurora borealis to see them. Here are a few sightings that delight the soul.
- one’s toddler giggling uncontrollably
- your car’s gas tank needle over the full mark
- a hummingbird delicately sipping nectar from a feeder
- a yard-sprinkler-induced rainbow
- a lost heirloom ring spotted in the grass
- a couple passionately hugging each other on their fiftieth anniversary
There are lots of other you can imagine . . . or experience. Again, they are all around us. One only needs to tune the psyche to the goodness of life. It’s all around us. Right here. To observe and relish.
Disappointment, sadness, shortcomings, even downright evil. To be sure, the fullness of life includes these negativities. But the lamentable reality is that all too often we let these dominate; we allow them to override the joy of giggling toddlers and hummingbirds.
There seems to be something in our human nature that occasions the predomination of bad over good. Maybe it’s like a small injury. I once scratched one of my corneas; believe me, it ruined the day. It was exceedingly painful, and it completely overshadowed the ninety-nine percent of my body that was just fine. I’m not suggesting that injuries – physically or psychologically – are insignificant or unimportant. They simply need to be kept in perspective.
Life Is Beautiful is a 1997 Italian comedy-drama film directed by and starring Roberto Benigni. He plays a Jewish Italian bookshop owner, who employs his fertile imagination to shield his son from the horrors of internment in a Nazi concentration camp. It stretches the mind to think that there is anything beautiful about life in a concentration camp. But there is, and it sustained life for many. The context for the film is extreme, but the lesson is that there is beauty and joy in life no matter what the circumstances.
Living can be hard. Very hard. Part of surviving, even flourishing, is to notice and rejoice in the beautiful sights that are all around us. Let’s see . . . life is good.
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