Justin Barclay - Good News

"Something's wrong."

Lizzie woke me out of deep sleep at three o'clock in the morning. I'll never forget those words. They set off a chain of events that would not let up for another 77 days.

She was 27 weeks pregnant, and we were expecting our first. It had been a relatively uneventful pregnancy up until then unless you count the craziness that enveloped the entire year. The world shut down. The chaos of a summer filled with riots in the streets. 2020 won't be soon forgotten.

Being pregnant during a global pandemic is challenging enough. But what we were about to discover is that things were only going to get more interesting.

Her water broke.

Early.

In fact, it was three months early.

We were excited to meet our little girl, but this was far too soon.

We called the doctor's 24-hour hotline when a nurse answered. Lizzie described what she was experiencing, and that's when we heard it. "Come to the hospital and pack a bag. You're going to be there for a while."

Even in that frantic moment, I remember a sense of calm.

Peace.

We got our things together and drove off into the night.

We were ushered into triage when we got to the hospitalgreeted by a lovely nurse and a doctor who examined Lizzie. They asked plenty of questions and performed several procedures to monitor mother and baby. Eventually, they prepared us for the possibility that our little one was coming much sooner than expected. She might even be born that day. A specialist even came in at one point to prepare us for the list of possibilities. Worst-case scenarios. None that anyone would ever want to entertain when your baby is born at 27 weeks.

As I look back, the entire year seems like it was one thing after another. Many of us felt the same. We moved from one crisis to another. There was barely enough time to even come up for air.

At times I felt it too. But there was something different.

We felt the ups and downs, but there was a solid thread holding it all together.

Good news.

I've witnessed the same throughout my entire life as I look back on the pieces. The major moments and the minor memories, the dots always connect.

Steve Jobs, in his famous commencement speech at Stanford University, warned graduates about this strange phenomenon.

"You can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backward. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. Believing that the dots will connect down the road will give you the confidence to follow your heart even when it leads you off the well-worn path, and that will make all the difference." Steve Jobs

Throughout my life, I've seen the dots connect. A purpose for the pain. A reason for every season. Through deep reflection, I've come to realize that God has always been there.

And this year was no exception. We could feel His hand.

And that's good news.

The kind we don't often hear on the local nightly news. We very rarely see it printed in the paper. It's shared even less frequently by the big corporate media outfits in blogs or social media.

Have you ever wondered why?

The answer is simple and maybe not be as sinister as one might think. But why would the talking heads and reporters want to hide the good?

In some cases, they may flat out ignore what they disagree with. In others, they just aren't incentivized to seek it out. In all reality, they don't believe it sells. They subscribe to the theory that produces a constant daily drip of negativity into your feed. If it's a threat, they can sell it. It's their business model. If you depend on them to keep you safe, you'll stick around longer and keep coming back for more. Thus, they can sell more commercials and charge more for each one. In essence, they want your attention. And they've resorted to specific tactics to attract and retain it. Why do they do it? Because it works. But it doesn't have to be that way. You can break the news cycle. I'll show you how.

First, you must know that there is good news that you're just not being told about. Once you are aware of this simple fact, you'll spot it every day. See it everywhere you look. Soon, you'll be on the lookout for it.

There are simple strategies that work every time. I've been using them for years as someone who's had to constantly stay up to date on what's happening in the world. I've had to learn. I must look at more news every day than most folks read all year. That can be a depressing job if you're not intentional. It can beat you down and leave you feeling cynical. If you're not careful, you'll be feeling hopeless in a lost world.

I've found myself there once or twice. It's not fun. But it's avoidable. And I'd argue that it's more important to learn how to master this skill than ever before. To be clear, I'm not saying you should stick your head in the sand like an ostrich and pretend everything is all sunshine and rainbows.

On the contrary, it's wise to be informed. But even more critical, empowered. That's the goal of this book. What I'm talking about here is sifting through the noise to find news you can use. Never let it use you.

Each day I put these practical steps to work. And they do. I'm happy and healthy. Through the chaos of the last year, I've found a way to thrive through it all. Not just survive. We've been blessed beyond imagination. And I know you will be too. Because these strange but straightforward strategies are easy to use, you can put them to work immediately to start shifting the way you see the world and taking control of it today.

What if I told you that no matter what was happening in the world or your life, that it's possible to have peace through it all?

I've felt it. In the hospital. When the doctors sat us down and gave us the talk, back in 2012 when I was fired from what I thought was my dream job. Multiple times throughout my life, what was happening looked like complete and utter loss and failure. I learned not to trust specific reports, and instead, I put my faith in a higher power.

If any of this sounds too good to be true, just hear me out. I may not have believed it at one point in my life either. But I do now because I've lived it. I've seen the fruit.

If you'd like to have that peace in your life, too, then keep reading. If not, that's ok too. If you're fine where you are, then put this book down right now. Don't waste another minute. But on the other hand, if you're curious. If you've been praying for a better way, let's discover it together.

You've already made it farther than most. Many folks don't even crack open a book after they buy it.

According to the Pew Research group, roughly a quarter of Americans don't even read books at all. In 2018, they showed that 24 percent of American adults haven't read anything in the past year. Not an actual physical, ebook, or audio. On top of that, they found a dramatic correlation between wealth and education. The more you read, the more likely you are to earn more.