It’s there.

It’s everywhere.

I promise.

And there’s way more of it than there’s not.

I mean there has to be, right?

This weekend a young person from our community committed suicide.

I can’t begin to understand how that person felt and what they were going through.

It’s so confusing.

My heart aches for the people left behind and what they must now endure.

Then I woke up this morning and learned of this terrible, senseless tragedy in Las Vegas. 

I had a notification on my phone that a friend had marked herself safe. 

I had to do a double take because the event was titled, “The violent incident in Las Vegas, Nevada.”

So that prompted a series of searches and I was shocked and outraged that numerous people had been shot and killed or injured at an outdoor concert. By the afternoon, as details began to unfold those numbers only increased.

 The question “why?” is at the forefront of our minds.

It’s just impossible to make sense of it. That’s because it doesn’t make sense. Not at all.

Our friends are okay. I’m so thankful for that.

But not everyone gets to say that and that makes me so incredibly sad.

I went to work today. At a middle school full of adolescent kids whose faces looking back at me represent all that is right in the world.

I walked into my first period class and looked into the eyes of twenty something 7th graders who count on me to teach them. 

But man how they teach me.

We took just a little bit of extra time to share about our weekends. 

And we ate doughnuts.

I mean science is my jam, but sometimes we just need take a few minutes to get to know one another and hang out and eat doughnuts.

And to listen to one another.

Share some of the good.

As I listened to their stories, we all laughed, related, wondered, learned and listened.

Do you know what?

I think we need more of that.

Way more of that.

I don’t have any answers.

I literally can’t make sense of any of it.

But I do know this…

It starts with our kids. 

Looking into their eyes today reminded me that there is far more good out there. If we want better, we need to do better. Be better.

For them.

It starts with us. The adults they look to for leadership. Parents, teachers, neighbors, friends, family.

Be the example you want to see in the world.

Take a moment to listen to each other. Compliment someone. Smile. Say hello. Hold open a door. Pause to truly listen.

You have no idea what another human is going through. You have no idea how your positive interaction can impact someone who really needed it.

The “actions speak louder than words” phrase is screaming at me right now.

Look up from your phone. Hell, turn the damn thing off. I think I will too.

Go for a walk. Pick a flower. Appreciate the beauty.

And tomorrow and every day after, be part of the good that our world so needs right now.

Tell your people they matter. And make sure they know how much they are loved.

Share the love.

Be the love.