by Deanna
I rarely voice my opinions on controversial subjects on social media ie; Facebook or my personal blog, or here in this space. But I gotta admit that lately I have been feeling somewhat off-centered, unbalanced, stressful and downright embarrassed by the circumstances that have flooded the news in the past few months centered around our Land of Liberty. Some, in my opinion, have taken this liberty that we have been granted by our founding fathers way over the boundaries of it's intent. The horrendous shootings of blacks, along with the shootings of whites, the anger, the riots, the prejudices, the gun laws that need serious modifications all bundled together have created a country that has been placed on the "watch list" for foreign travelers. Seriously! the USA has reached that level, our land of the free, home of the brave. Our great land of opportunity is broken. What a sad, sad state of affairs.
I am not even going to mention our two candidates for the President of the United States. You may be a staunch Republican or a firm Democrat, but honestly voting this year weighs heavily on my heart. Some of you may have seen the cartoon on Facebook yesterday that depicted a man and a woman walking, the woman turns to the man and says, "My desire to be well-informed is currently at odds with my desire to remain sane." For those of you that have CNN or Fox News on from morning until night must be totally crazed. Do yourself a favor....turn off the TV! Listen to music, read a book, take a walk, ride a bike, do breathing exercises, hug your children. Yes, we need to be informed but not to the point of causing serious damage to our soundness of judgement.
I read an article in Real Simple magazine the other day that truly spoke to me considering our "state of affairs" and my mental health... "Try a walking meditation, just walk slightly slower than your normal pace, but not so slow that anyone would notice. What makes it a meditation is that you are paying attention to the experience. As you move along really see what's in front of you, notice the sensation of your feet against the ground. If your mind strays, gently return it to the experience. Integrating mind and body with a conscious walk lets you cultivate concentration, engage your muscles, bring fresh air into your lungs, and take your brain off your worries. Take your time, you're not trying to go anywhere but inward." (excerpt from Cyndi Lee)
In closing, thank you for letting me air my thoughts. I don't have the answers but I truly believe that most all Americans hope and pray that we as a nation contend that working together we can bring dignity, decency, and distinction back to the United States. Pass it forward and God bless America.
"Though it may feel otherwise, enjoying life is no more dangerous than apprehending it with continuous anxiety and gloom." ~ Alain de Botton, writer
8 comments:
Thank you Deanna. Although we are not a political blog, I think we are - all of us - feeling this way. I heard an interesting commentary on the way into work today about chronic stress. One of the points that struck me was that it said "News", by definition is something that doesn't happen often. The car crashes, the food poisoning,the home accidents - the things that often actually do get us are not news. All the terrible things you hear in TV are the things that happen infrequently.I know that the balance is skewed right now, but in general, this is true. If you watch it all day, every day you become afraid of things that most likely will never happen to you.
As to the bigger picture, yes - we all want our ideals back!
Well said, Deanna! The state of our country is very sad. My TV is turned off. I don't have the radio on. I'm not hiding from the news, I'm looking for peace in my life and praying for our nation.
Thank you for this. I feel like we're on the verge of a civil war here in the states. I was blessed to be raised in a very diverse community and the divisiveness that is here now is putting a strain on many relationships with lifelong friends. Not just with me but with so many others. You can feel the tension among Facebook friends for sure. Between the two candidates we have for President and this racial divide I have never experienced anything like this in my lifetime (I'm almost 50). Do you mind telling me where you heard about the U.S. being put on a watch list for foreign travel? I Googled it but couldn't find anything specific. Thanks and God bless.
~ Wendy
http://Crickleberrycottage.blogspot.com/
As Carol said, we are all weary of the "NEWS". My take on it is complex but in a nutshell, I blame 24 hour news networks for overhyping EVERYTHING! Bad things have always happened for as long as God has been making little green apples. But, we didn't hear about each and every bad thing again and again and again. When 9/11 happened, I was transfixed by news coverage, as I'm sure all of us were. Then after about four days, I realized it was making me nuts. It was hard, but I backed off. And that has been my strategy now: read the news but read it selectively, just enough to make informed decisions but not enough to warp my attitude about my life and my country. And as I said last week in my post, let's pass the love around.
Yes, it's all so very sad and I'm not sure where it is going or where it will end up. In my 70 years, I have never seen anything like it and don't ever remember there being two candidates for President with so little support and where there is just no good choice. But I completely agree -- watching the news and reading every post on Facebook is not going to help anybody and can be detrimental to your mental as well as physical health. My mother watches the news and is always up in arms about something she saw and I just tell her "Stop watching!" Dotti's got the answer -- be informed but not obsessed. And as Cathy said, we need to try to find our own peace while we pray for a solution.
Yes, let's pass the love around. If only everyone would get on board :)
man deanna...i am right there with you. i think everyone is pretty weary. so i've been purposefully staying away from Facebook and the nightly news. i'm doing my best to try to spread light and love, but i wonder if that's really enough anymore. so i'll just keep on praying. xoxo
Well said Deanna, I just can't sit in front of the tv anymore. 24 hour news coverage is just so unhealthy and I think it truly hypes everyone up and stews the pot. I feel terrible for young people raising families in these times. I think you speak for so many of us. xo
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