Seek out SA’s good news

The other day, one of my friends challenged me about the negative tone of my blog, saying my complaints have become so predictable.

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I immediately got on my high horse, defending what I wrote and why I wrote it. But then I realised she was right. Yes, we South Africans have a lot to moan about, but I’ve made a concerted effort the past week or so to concentrate on positive news. And it’s worked.

I feel less despondent about our country after a week of actively seeking out the positive. In the process I’ve come across some really super ‘good news gems’, as I like to call them.

One such as jewel is the South Africa – The Good News website (www.sagoodnews.co.za). I’ve long known about this site, but never bothered to really look at it. Well, after a week or so I’ve been converted. In addition to reading all my regular newspapers, which often leave me on the brink of depression, I visit this website daily for the past 10 days or so and realised South Africans actually are a super nice bunch who really care about each other.

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Another gem is Awesome SA (www.awesomesa.co.za). It’s aim is to share the good, to challenge us to take responsibility for our environment, our culture and our attitudes.

Kyk man, its no use denying the fact that we have a myriad of challenges (new word for serious problems) in SA. We all know that. But we can’t afford to be bogged down by them.

I’ve read somewhere that a wise man once said that the happy man’s life is determined by his contributions, while the sad man’s life is determined by his demands (or something to that effect). Well, the time has come for us to start actively contributing good news to our general conversations. Don’t tell me you don’t have any. That’s simply not true.

And by the way, I think it’s actually beneficial to your health to be positive.

I am by no means advocating that we ignore the negative realities, but surely that’s not all there is to life. The next time you and your mates stand around the braai complaining about the usual stuff, be brave enough to add a good news story to the discussion. For instance, tell them about the latest article you’ve read in Farmer’s Weekly about an interesting and successful farmer.

That should be enough to brighten up any dull and negative conversation.

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Annelie Coleman represents Farmer’s Weekly in the Free State, North West and Northern Cape. Agriculture is in her blood. She grew up on a maize farm in the Wesselsbron district where her brother is still continuing with the family business. Annelie is passionate about the area she works in and calls it ‘God’s own country’. She’s particularly interested in beef cattle farming, especially with the indigenous African breeds. She’s an avid reader and owns a comprehensive collection of Africana covering hunting in colonial Africa, missionary history of same period, as well as Rhodesian literature.