Friday, January 5, 2018

Most People Are Good



Anyone who reads my writing understands that I am an eternal optimist. Always have been and always will be. That’s just the way my brain is wired, the way my heart beats, and optimism probably makes up the majority of my DNA.

I look back on portions of my life that could have, maybe should have convinced me otherwise, but somehow, some way, I’ve weathered the storm and remained upright. Don’t know how, exactly. Could have been my faith. Could have been my belief that hope and love conquers all. Could have been my belief in and the support of the people around me.

For example, in October of 2013, my nephew was struck by a car and died. He was an only child. It was tragic because he was such a great young man with so much promise. The world would have been better had he lived. I believe that. In April of 2014, my mom peacefully passed away at age 99. She saw a lot, lived a lot and even at the end, showed her strength and resolve.

It was the summer of 2014 that really hammered my soul and shook our family to its core. That July, my son was shot and killed as he walked down a street unaware of what was taking place behind him. One bullet out of ten that were fired hit someone, our son, and Wil died on the sidewalk. One month later in August, Kim’s and my best friend succumbed to cancer. Like so many others, that tragic disease took his life.

I haven’t been tested like that before or since. As I said, my family and I weathered that storm. What should have, could have caused me to lose my faith in mankind, in people, didn’t. Some of the people I work with didn’t let that happen. My family wouldn’t allow it to happen to us, to each other.

I’ve experienced setbacks in my writing. I think I’ve received enough rejection slips from agents and publishers to wallpaper the family room of our house. But all it took was one yes and someone to say, “Yeah, I like this!” and four books later, I’m published with another due out in April of this year.

Most People Are Good!

They really are. Sometimes one has to look long and hard and might deep, but there is goodness. As many ugly stories as you might see on the news, I can point to an equal or greater number of stories that uplift and celebrate and sometimes bring tears to one’s eyes. Stories that melt a heart.

Luke Bryan has a new song out titled, Most People Are Good and it has come to mean a lot to me. If you have the opportunity, Google the lyrics or give it a listen. The last two lines of the chorus are:

            I believe this world ain't half as bad as it looks;
I believe most people are good.

I think he’s right.

I wrote a post several weeks ago titled The Dot and it urged us to not dwell on the negative but on the positive. Honestly, sometimes it’s hard to do. I mean, there are times more often than not that we are hit in the face with murder, death, disease, greed, loss of one kind or another. Sometimes it feels like a never-ending onslaught.

But that’s where each of us . . . you and I together . . . each other . . . come in. We are always stronger together than we are separately. Sometimes when we are so close to breaking, all it takes is one or two others to take hold of a hand, to place an arm around a shoulder, to be present to let us know that we have each other’s back. That together, we’ve got this. And sometimes it is safer, easier to hunker down, wait the storm out and peep your head out of the foxhole to see what is still standing.

Remember, even though it gets dark at night, the sun will rise. Even though there might be dark clouds and rain, the sun is still up there and will make its appearance eventually. It always does. If it sounds like I’m an optimistic fool, I’d rather that then the alternative. Something to think about . . .

Live Your Life and Make A Difference!

To My Readers:

I sent the final edited copy of my fifth work of thriller/suspense fiction Caught in a Web Black Rose Writing this last week. It will drop in April of 2018.  I am working with Black Rose on several publicity campaigns so when the “drop” nears, I’ll keep you posted. There will be an opportunity for preordering Caught in a Web, so when the link becomes available, I’ll make sure you know. Unlike my others, this one will be available in bookstores as well as Amazon.

Good News!
I finished the edits on Spiral Into Darkness and I’m working to find an agent for it. It is more of a psychological thriller but with an attitude.

Please feel free to connect with me at:

Twitter at @jrlewisauthor

Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/Joseph.Lewis.Author                                         

Amazon at: http://www.amazon.com/Joseph-Lewis/e/B01FWB9AOI /                                      

If you like Thriller/Suspense fiction and are looking for something to read over the winter, check out my novels:

The Lives Trilogy Prequel, Taking Lives:
FBI Agent Pete Kelliher and his partner search for the clues behind the bodies of six boys left in various and remote parts of the country. Even though they don’t know one another, the lives of FBI Agent Kelliher and two boys become interwoven with the same thread that Pete Kelliher holds in his hand. The three of them are on a collision course and when that happens, their lives are in jeopardy as each search for a way out. http://bit.ly/Taking-Lives-JLewis                   

Stolen Lives, Book One of the Lives Trilogy:
Two thirteen-year-old boys are abducted off a safe suburban street. Kelliher and his team of FBI agents have 24 hours to find them or they’ll end up like all the others- dead! They have no leads, no clues, and nothing to go on. And the possibility exists that one of his team members might be involved. http://bit.ly/Stolen-Lives-JLewis                 

Shattered Lives, Book Two of the Lives Trilogy:
Six desperate and violent men escape. One of them stands in a kitchen facing a 14 year-old-boy with a gun. There are many reasons for the boy to pull the trigger. Mainly, the man had started it all. http://bit.ly/Shattered-Lives-J-Lewis                  

Splintered Lives, Book Three of the Lives Trilogy:
A 14 year-old-boy is willing to make the ultimate sacrifice. High up on an Arizona mesa, he faces three desperate and dangerous men in hopes of saving his father and his brothers. http://bit.ly/Splintered-Lives-J-Lewis 

2 comments:

Thank you for your comment. I welcome your thought. Joe