Being positive and upbeat is normally a good thing and one should practice it 365 days a year.
This is the premise of a new book “Looking Up 365” by David Buenrostro, a 19-year-old college sophomore whose proceeds from book sales will go to help a parish in Haiti which is in a twinning relationship with St. John Parish in Dinwiddie.
“The title ‘Looking Up’ is meant to be staying positive, keeping your chin up,” David told The Catholic Virginian. “And 365 means keeping it going for the whole year.”
“I’m trying to show people to be happy and positive for what you have from the Lord, instead of complaining about what you don’t have.”
“I’m trying to show people to be happy and positive for what you have from the Lord, instead of complaining about what you don’t have.”
There is an individual message for each day of the year.
Born in El Paso, David is the second of three children of a Mexican-born father and California-born mother of Mexican heritage. The family moved to Virginia in October 2005 when his father was assigned to Fort Lee with the U.S. Army.
After graduating from Dinwiddie County High School as ninth in his class of 360 and as a member of the National Honor Society, David enrolled at Virginia Commonwealth University where he is majoring in biology with a minor in chemistry.
Asked about the 80-page book, he explained that he wrote it during his senior year of high school and it took him a month to complete.
“I thought I’d knock it out in two days,” David said, smiling, “but I still had school classes, I had to correct my own mistakes with the layout and then I just needed to have a break at times.
“I was the editor, the content maker and did the layout and design,” he continued. “I have much more appreciation now for people who do that for a living.”
Why did he write the book?
“My faith is important to me because without it, nothing really matters,” David said. “God has given us the things in this world.”
He is active at St. John’s as an altar server and is willing to perform what might seem as meager tasks that need to be done. “I’ve washed some windows,” he said.
With the book completed, his next concern was how to publish it.
“I asked one of our family friends if she knew the tools to use to publish a book,” he said.
He was referred to a self-publishing website “blurb” which gave direction on how to proceed.
“It was very user-friendly and you didn’t need other guidance,” David said.
In an attempt to market the book, he spoke to the congregation at St. John’s and was invited to speak at two other churches.
“I was able to get pre-orders from Smyrna Baptist Church in Dinwiddie and at Unity Baptist Church in Petersburg,” he said.
“I visited both churches and spoke at their Sunday services.”
To date, he says he has sold “80-plus copies.”
As for recreation, David plays football, soccer and basketball “just with my friends when we have free time.”
During this summer he is working as a server at Red Lobster in Colonial Heights. In the fall, he’ll begin classes at Richard Bland Community College and then resume studies at VCU in the spring semester. He explained that he can take the same courses this semester as those offered at VCU and they will be transferred to his record.
“In the meantime I’ll be having classes much closer to home and will be able to save money,” he said.
David is open to invitations to speak to other church groups about his Christian message of positive thinking and feels he has learned how to connect with his audience.
“Sometimes during the first few minutes I’ll see people looking down, but after a few more minutes, I’ll see them looking right at me and I know I have their attention,” he said.
“I want to spread the message that God gives us many things to be thankful for and he wants us to help others.”
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