Too Much

               Too much of anything isn’t really good.  Reading for a long time can hurt your eyes or even give you a headache (I know this from personal experience).  Eating a whole bag of potato chips or a container of ice cream in one sitting, while it may be “good for your soul” (as I am prone to saying), is not good for your overall health, especially if you do it frequently.  Even over-consumption of something healthy, like water, is likely to cause some problems.  It’s important to find a balance between what you enjoy and what is good for you and try to avoid feeling addicted to things you know don’t make you feel good, but you just can’t seem to stop.  This is also true when it comes to what’s happening in the world, your personal world, hometown, nation, and globally.

               When I was growing up, my parents read the daily newspapers, one published in town with local news, and one that had more state and worldwide news.  My father watched the late news, at 11:00 pm, sometimes my mother watched news in the late afternoon, at 5:00.  That was it, they kept informed about what was going on and then moved on to other things, books, magazines, tv shows, chores, hobbies, and spending time with us kids. It is very different today.  It’s hard to stay away from current events and opinions.  Much of what is put out there as news is, in my view, the opinions of the broadcasters and celebrities. Between the tv, radio, and social media, over consuming news is hard to avoid.  I do think about this a lot, because I feel that in general we as a society and me personally have become fearful, overwhelmed, and have an underlying anger; most of us probably don’t even know why we feel like this or realize it is happening.  It is hard to avoid becoming fearful of everyday life when we are constantly bombarded with alarming reports and “statistics”, read in an intense manner into the camera, or splashed across any written media in bold lettering with alarming graphics.  The weather alone is enough to make you hide under the covers and wait for the end of the world.  I never remember “weather alerts” when I was younger.  If it was going to rain, we stayed inside or wore raincoats and boots, depending on what it was like out.  We were not alarmed by it, but we respected that Mother Nature would have her way no matter what and we acted accordingly.  Snow was exciting, but not frightening, hot days in summer were expected and called for shorts and t-shirts, ice pops, swimming or sprinkler play and lying in the shade sipping lemonade.  Nobody had to tell us (except our mothers) to stay hydrated and not exert ourselves too much in hot weather.  Cold in January was just par for the course, so we donned our coats, hats, and gloves and went about our business of getting to school and work, but we weren’t scared by it.  Now, half the time I’m afraid to go out of my house for fear something terrible will happen to me if I do.  How silly!  Fear is what keeps us going back to check the weather frequently so we are not caught off guard by dangerous conditions which rarely occur.  In our current situation with the pandemic raging across our country, it’s hard not to become obsessed with finding out “the latest” about it.  If we pay too much attention to what most media is telling us, we forget that common sense is what we most need.  It makes sense to wash your hands after you have been anywhere besides inside your house, and after handling groceries or using the bathroom.  If doctors are saying that wearing a cloth or disposable mask will keep germs from spreading, then common sense tells us that we should do that when we’re going to be around people we don’t live with or who are sick, until a vaccine is available to everyone.  There is so much common sense missing right now.  I think that planting seeds out doubt is one thing that media excels at, and helps to cloud our judgement and ignore the common sense most everyone has.  Fear allows us to ignore our inner voice of reason and readily buy into disinformation. 

               I think about this a lot, as I find myself fearing going out in the rain, driving anywhere, even grocery shopping.  Too much news is not a good thing, at least for me.  I’m doing my best to limit how frequently I check on current events.  Once in the morning and then once in the evening seems to be a good balance for me. I hope you find a good balance for yourself and let your internal voice of reason be your guide.  I wish you peace.