If you pay too much attention to the news you will soon develop a whop-sided view of reality. It won’t be your fault, but it will happen nonetheless.
Here’s why: Most of the news on TV and in newspapers is about unpleasantness, trouble, strife and evil. One can quickly become overwhelmed by the disasters, crimes, wars, corporate greed, doomed world economy and the other bad stuff the directors of main stream media think should receive our attention.
While knowing about these things is important, hearing about them over and over can wear one down. According to Henry David Thoreau (Why is he always called by his full name? Can’t you hear his Momma, “Henry … David … Thoreau, you get yourself in here!”) …
Anyway, according to Henry, “To a philosopher all news, as it is called, is gossip.” In other words, once you’ve heard one example of a bad thing, you’ve heard them all.
Maybe it’s a symptom of a negative society that we don’t notice there’s just as much good stuff going on in the world! Unfortunately, it doesn’t receive national or world attention. In fact, the world is full of good people who do good things.
Thank the kind people who do good things!
One I want to thank is Harold Holmes of Lincoln Beach Software. We’ve never met in person, but have swapped emails for years. In mid-2005 he mentioned in a newsgroup we frequent that he was raising money to help find a cure for MS by riding in the 2005 MS150 bike ride.
I thanked him in a private email and mentioned that what he was doing is special in my world because my wife has MS. He rode with her name on his jersey. This year, Harold has just completed another MS150. Again, Harold, thanks!
If you’d like to, read Harold’s BLOG of his inaugural MS150 ride.
Find someone like Harold and say, “Thanks!”
Caregiver Tip: Notice all the good people doing good things and thank a few of them. It will help you feel more hopeful and will give you a nicer view of reality.