“If you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change,” says American philosopher, author, and motivational speaker Wayne Dyer. It’s a quote that I have been actively working on with the beginning of 2018.
And it’s working.
We have all experienced the same event as someone else and had two completely different reactions to it. We can each choose to look at things in a positive or a negative fashion every single day, and I’m willingly (sometimes begrudgingly) choosing positivity, and I have Jason Ritter and his new show “Kevin (Probably) Saves The World” to thank for it.
My daughter, Amanda, has been a fan of Ritter since his days on “Parenthood,” and I quickly followed. It was easy, because he is such an uplifting person, and I have wonderful, fond memories of being in complete puppy love with his dad, John Ritter, as a child. So we both started watching “Kevin (Probably)” when it started a few months ago, and instantly, we were hooked.
The show follows Kevin, who once was a not-so-together guy who lacked motivation and direction until he goes home to rekindle his relationship with his twin and widowed sister, and is visited by a “celestial being” named Yvette. Yvette tells him in no uncertain terms that he has a mission to save the world, and he is a righteous soul.
This news doesn’t come easy to him, but gradually, you can see how he most definitely is a righteous soul and aims to do better, be better, and help others no matter what. There are twists and turns and you never really figure out what the next steps will be (which keeps you riveted), but the big takeaway is the goodness that is put out there for all of us each week.
There have been many times where I have been the absolute opposite of a righteous soul and talked to Amanda, only to have my mood entirely turned around when she would point out that we had to keep positive and be like Kevin. The show also makes you question all those big life questions, like what are we here for if not to help others? In every frustrating situation we encounter in life, there are typically hurt people who hurt people. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we can wake up every day and intentionally choose to put good things out into the universe?
Amanda and I support each other, and when one of us is having a bad day, we’ll remind the other one that we can choose different. We can choose not to react, or engage with hostility and hate. We can choose to actively work for the good instead of mindlessly whine about the bad. We can choose to feel thankful for what we have instead of grumble about what we don’t have.
Today, I’m thankful for Jason Ritter and the rest of the actors on the show, the writers who created this beautiful world, and the network for allowing us to see it. Goodness and love can change the world … and it all starts with a choice that we get to make each day.
“Kevin (Probably) Saves The World” airs Tuesdays at 10 pm on ABC.
Danielle Sullivan is a writer living in New York City. Follow her on Instagram @Deewrite.
