I have always been an optimist and a person who sees the glass half full.  A person who looks for the positive lesson in every challenge, who looks toward a happily ever after, and who believes there is far more good in the world than bad.  But this week I have struggled to feel that way. And the truth is that I am feeling indescribably exhausted… 

And not the normal type of exhausted – I know all too well what normal exhaustion feels like. While a single Mom of two little kids and CEO of a fast growing healthcare technology company with over a thousand employees across two countries to manage, I experienced physical and mental exhaustion more times than I can count. And I’ve been through so many times of trial that have been so painful and emotionally exhausting it stopped me in my tracks. I describe those times as being a normal type of exhaustion. But the type of exhaustion I’m feeling this past week is very different…it is an exhaustion I feel in the depths of my soul…

Tonight as I sat and pondered what’s the core of the exhaustion I feel I realized it is this: I have always believed there is far more good in the world than bad, but as I’ve watched the endless reports of all the acts of hatred, and violence, and destruction that have been so rampant and widespread around the world recently, and I’ve listened to the vicious negativity filling the news and splashed all over social media, I’ve honestly started to question if the scales of good and bad truly have tipped.  How can I not question that when so many are filled with hatred that their humanity has been lost – how else could people have stood by and done nothing while a man was being murdered before their eyes? How else could people senselessly destroy so many other people’s property, and set fire to places of worship, and deface national monuments, and kill people who have attempted to stop them from their horrific acts?  Where people have almost entirely replaced civil discourse with disrespect, disparagement, and disdain? And where ugliness gets glorified and discontent gets sensationalized?  It’s impossible not to question if the scale of good and bad have tipped…

So how do we get the answer to that question right now when we need to know it most? It will take all voices of positivity to speak up to share messages of love and forgiveness. It will take all good people standing up with arms of friendship extended. It will take all good people posting images and stories of the goodness they see. It will take all good people being willing to rise and shine their light of goodness brighter than they’ve ever done before.

The world needs to know how much goodness still exists….I need to know how much goodness still exists… And when you share your light you are helping strengthen mine.

~Amy Rees Anderson (author of the book “What Awesome Looks Like: How To Excel in Business & Life” )