Editor’s Choice — Top 10: Good Things Will Definitely Happen to You

Read these top 10 writers with skipping and skimming today

Have you ever wondered how and why good things happen?

Why do people say, ‘Good things happen only to those who refuse to quit on their dreams?’

Let’s dig deeper and find the answer to a similar — but more obvious — question: Why do bad things happen?

Though the probability of a good or bad thing happening to you is almost the same, our society and family have drilled the fear of the bad into our subconscious.

Bad things happen if we get into bad habits — we intuitively know. For example, if you start smoking, you will get lung cancer. If you start gambling, you get into debt problems. The debts destroy your focus and make you uneasy — until you fumble. Then, someone close to you decides to leave you or says something that hurts you emotionally.

We avoid negative behaviors to avoid bad things happenings to us.

We cannot predict when a big good or a big bad event will happen — according to Nassim Nicholas Taleb’s theory of black swan events.

No matter how much we try, we cannot predict these life-changing good or bad events. But if you start smoking, or if you gamble, something bad will definitely happen — after six months, or a year or two.

The same rules apply to the good things. When you start a business, you develop a product or provide a service. If you are in the writing trade, it is writing a story, an article, a poem, a short story, or a novel.

When you start doing something, a time clock starts. Though you can never predict when a good event will happen, it will happen at some point in your future.

When you start writing, you create your blog, or you create an account on a writing platform — like Medium, and then you write. You may get rejected initially. Thirty publishers rejected Stephen King’s novel Carrie, and JK Rowling was dismissed by 12.

When you keep writing, social media helps you connect with other writers. Some comments can encourage you to write more.

Then one day, you may see a note that a big publication wants to publish your story. On another day, you find 10 smaller publications wishing to publish your next article.

Some people have won book deals from a well-written story.

When you start doing something, something good will happen. Rest assured, it will definitely happen.

All your failed stories are fallen soldiers in your battle to victory. You have to write 99 flop stories to write that one story that will earn you money and fame.

I had suggested that our top 10 writers provide their own introduction and the stories they would like to share. I am publishing the ideas they think are worth sharing and spreading.

If you want to get an idea of how good a writer is, this is your opportunity to read them.

10. Do You Use Data To Understand Your User Or To Control Them?

Leo Guinan is a polymath who is trying to solve time by solving money. He is an excellent writer as well. His writing voice is frank, direct, and engaging. If you like this story, do check his other work.

In this piece, Leo explores the reasons that companies collect data on their users. He examines the rise of behavioral marketing and how this has led to companies trying to control our behaviors. He also explores how the future can be modified to prevent companies from doing so in the future.

The future is data. The present is also data. Actually, so is the past.

If you want to figure out how to make money, understand how to collect and analyze data. With data, all things are possible.

And therein lies the problem. All things are possible. Given the right data, anyone can control the behaviors of others.

9. Why Time is the Most Underrated Ingredient in the Kitchen

Chris Kong is a consummate foodie with a love for his family and interesting food experiences. Chris holds an MA in Leadership and is an avid home cook.

Find out how you can reframe your thinking about food to create better food experiences in your life.

As a ball of dough ferments away on my counter I can’t help but imagine the taste of the soft, pillowy focaccia it is destined to become.

How can it be that mixing simple ingredients like flour, water, salt, and yeast can result in something so magical?

It’s all about time.

Time has the power to elevate and enrich recipes, but it can also spell disaster in the kitchen. Anyone who has ever tasted their mother-in-law’s dry turkey over the holidays is acutely aware of this dynamic.

8. 6 Reasons Why Your Best Days Are Still Ahead

Laine has also written this story to inspire and motivate people that their best days really are ahead if they choose the right perspective and attitude.

No matter how challenging the Year 2020 has been for everyone, the lessons we learn and knowledge we gain through experiences will make us better people! And let us achieve the goals we want!

Often when we face challenging times, we are looking back to the time in our past when we felt happy. Perhaps you traveled or had a great time together with loved ones. Maybe you are looking back to the time when you had a less stressful time financially.

Life goes through seasons and cycles — there are moments when we feel like we are on the top of the mountain, and there are moments when we feel like hitting rock bottom. I believe that we get better with every cycle; therefore, our lives get better too.

7. Ways to Stop Other People’s Demons from Becoming Your Own

Dawn Bevier is a teacher and a writer. She is an accomplished writer with a compelling voice. Follow her. Read her. You’ll love her work. Promise.

Dawn believes that often good people are thinkers and dreamers who use both inspiration and knowledge to make their dreams come true. She hopes to bring both to her audience to help others make their dreams come true.

People are cruel, and usually the cruelest person in our lives is the person staring back at us in the mirror. So when others seek to destroy the delicate threads of our self-esteem, we have to understand our perpetrator and find ways to stop his added influence from ripping our self-confidence to pieces. Here’s how to stop toxic people from poisoning us with their own insecurities.

6. How to Change Your Mental State Instantly

Oliver Brunchmann is working tirelessly at increasing his odds of a happy life and to help others reach their potential.

He is an excellent writer. His style is inquisitive, direct, and engaging. If you started reading this story, you would probably not click away without finishing it.

The ability to change your mental state at will, can give you remarkable improvements to your life. In this article, you can read more on how to practically do this and achieve a happier life.

Advances in general-purpose AI will bring about radically new workforces, novel new job-types, more automated tasks, and more human-centric decision making. The article below, with 10 questions that measure if AI can replace your job.

Do you ever feel like your emotions are overwhelming you? That you can feel how your mood is changing into something you don’t want? Maybe you start getting anxious or angry?

“The emotional brain responds to an event more quickly than the thinking brain.” — Daniel Goleman

Emotions are your fundamental reactions to your surroundings. They have been with us as long as we have been humans and they are one of our most important mechanisms of survival. But sometimes they do seem a little outdated and it would be preferable to have a response purely based on reason. That is unfortunately not to be changed, but you can change or influence.

5. Will You Survive the AI Apocalypse?

Akarsh Nalawade is all these things: Talkative. Intrepid reader. Easy-goer. Globetrotter. Quixotic. Gooner. Polemic. Opinionated. Tea Drinker. Nerd.

He is an excellent writer as well. His style is simple, direct, and engaging. Don’t miss it.

“Just to rub it in, a version of AlphaGO, called AlphaZero recently learned to trounce AlphaGo at Go, and also to trounce Stockfish (the world’s best chess program, far better than any human) and Elmo (the world’s best shongi program, also better than any human). AlphaZero did all this in one day.”

Stuart Russell, Human Compatible

I was reading “Human Compatible” this week and the above anecdote got me thinking. A computer crushing Chess and Go Grandmasters is impressive and feels ominous, but what does it mean for our everyday jobs? Every year computer chips get smaller and faster (Moore’s Law) and experts predict Machine Learning, AI and automation will eviscerate our jobs. Is this the harbinger of the AI apocalypse or our sci-fi soaked imagination running wild? The answer lies somewhere in the middle.

4. Dear White Women: Now That We Have Your Attention, May I Have a Word?

Jeanette C. Espinoza is a mom of two amazing humans and the author of 3 books. She is an outstanding writer. Her style is well-researched and highly engaging. You should follow her if you want to learn to write well.

Jeanette has written a series of articles entitled “Dear White Women: Now That We Have Your Attention, May I Have a Word” and there are currently four published pieces to view.

The articles are meant to start the crucial dialogue between Black and White women to facilitate a deeper understand and develop a partnership with these two groups.

Jeanette hopes to use these articles to dispel negative myths about Black women as well as engage White women in the process of eradicating racism within their communities. She believes we can create a better, more inclusive and compassionate world one person at a time.

3. Helping Hands in Any Way We Can

Melissa Bee is an excellent writer who believes in the power of love. Her style is charmingly engaging.

The story I will share is “Helping Hand in Any Way We Can.” It’s a quick 2-minute read that uses creativity to show how simple it is to help one another. Don’t miss this one.

2. A Priest Called Me Promiscuous and I Cried Tears of Joy

At number one today, meet Tracy Stengel. She is an exceptional writer and a freelance editor. Her style is gentle, charming, engaging, and heartwarming. Don’t miss this one.

It wasn’t the first time I had come to talk to this priest. We’d met privately a couple times before. I was going on my fifth consecutive year of pain, fear, and misery. There was no end in sight.

I clung to my torso with my arms crossed as if giving myself a much-needed hug. My ribs stuck out. I was malnourished — both nutritionally and spiritually.

Depression had a way of dulling hunger pains and twisting my stomach into a knot of hopelessness and grief. I wasn’t suicidal, but if something “happened” to me, I wouldn’t have cared. Maybe I tempted fate. Back then, I took a lot of unnecessary chances.

1. Where’s Your Next Innovation?

At number one, it is Randy Wolken. He writes to educate and inspire. He is the President & CEO of MACNY — The Manufacturers Association with over 300 company members in New York State.

Innovation is what gives you an edge in today’s hyper-connected world. As an innovator, you get a chance to change our world. Where’s your next innovation?

Innovation is the lifeblood of future growth. Without ongoing innovation, the competition will likely outperform our current products or services.

Where does innovation come from?

Innovation requires change, collaboration, and recombination. We all can be innovative if we become intentional about these three elements. Many great inventions that have improved our lives have involved all three aspects of chance, collaboration, and recombination.

Final Thoughts

If your story was selected as one of the Top 10, please share another one of your stories in the comments with a brief introduction and a short review that can convince a reader to read your piece. (Please write the review in the third person and start it with your name.)

I must have missed something today. I cannot read every story on Illumination and Illumination-Curated. Dr Mehmet Yildiz, the Chief Editor and Founder of Illumination and Illumination-Curated, read, highlighted, and applauded every good story when he started his publications. He still reads almost all of the good ones. I try — and fail daily — to read all of the masterpieces.

Dr Mehmet Yildiz has kindly allowed our top 10 series a full shelf on the front page of Illumination-Curated and Illumination:

So, help me to find and rank the best work of the writers of Illumination and Illumination-Curated.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

To improve your odds of success as a writer, read these curation guidelines.

You can read my curated stories here.

Note: I have listed the suggested stories from all publications. But we generally prefer your stories published in Illumination and Illumination-Curated. Thanks.