A cursory look at the news or any social media may cause instant fear and depression. The fact is, that any one of a number of catastrophes both happen and are within the realm of possibility. Bad things happen, and the news of them spreads like wildfire.
Honestly, none of us knows tomorrow's events with any degree of certainty. Focusing on the imaginary unknown, by linking it with some current event is like making movies in your own mind and then watching them in real time.
I would guess that I am average in that I spend equal amounts of time thinking about what could go wrong as I do wildly fantasizing about what could go right. Neither are efficiently productive. You could argue that focusing on the positive is what causes good vibes and energy. I couldn't agree more. Still, it is action that gets things moving. Thinking about a steak dinner will not cook it, though it may be more likely to lead to my cooking it. In the same way, thinking about social anarchy may not cause social anarchy, but it will certainly cause me to be more sensitive to any form of it, and lead me to an abnormal distrust of my neighbor. We often play 'telephone' with our own thoughts, jumping to conclusions that are a product of our imagination, and not reality. It is said that many of the radical facebook posts that proclaim outlandish conclusions are based on a sense of public fear and cause readers to be gullible enough to swallow outright lies, simply because they contain a small amount of truth. Any post that gets your goat may fall in this category.
The more analytical among us may argue that gathering information helps us to understand the times, and a knowledge of history informs the future. All true, and yet, to what end?
The only realm in which I have true influence is more than likely the space around me for ten to twenty yards or so in either direction. In this age of instant information, we maybe lulled into thinking of ourselves as 'omnipowerful' as we are 'artificially omniscient'. Why, then, do I find it so hard to focus on that space and seek to live in an imaginary world of my own making?
I find it far easier to blame the current administration than to walk a few feet and give some love to my neighbor or family member when giving love would make a small but real difference.
Yes, tomorrow is uncertain. Today's moment is the only one that is stone concrete and crystal clear. I must not reject it or flee from it to some other ethereal place out of either fear or laziness. To do this is not to truly live the gift of my own life.
I must remember that tomorrow's uncertainty includes a certainty. God. That is what I know.
Honestly, none of us knows tomorrow's events with any degree of certainty. Focusing on the imaginary unknown, by linking it with some current event is like making movies in your own mind and then watching them in real time.
I would guess that I am average in that I spend equal amounts of time thinking about what could go wrong as I do wildly fantasizing about what could go right. Neither are efficiently productive. You could argue that focusing on the positive is what causes good vibes and energy. I couldn't agree more. Still, it is action that gets things moving. Thinking about a steak dinner will not cook it, though it may be more likely to lead to my cooking it. In the same way, thinking about social anarchy may not cause social anarchy, but it will certainly cause me to be more sensitive to any form of it, and lead me to an abnormal distrust of my neighbor. We often play 'telephone' with our own thoughts, jumping to conclusions that are a product of our imagination, and not reality. It is said that many of the radical facebook posts that proclaim outlandish conclusions are based on a sense of public fear and cause readers to be gullible enough to swallow outright lies, simply because they contain a small amount of truth. Any post that gets your goat may fall in this category.
The more analytical among us may argue that gathering information helps us to understand the times, and a knowledge of history informs the future. All true, and yet, to what end?
The only realm in which I have true influence is more than likely the space around me for ten to twenty yards or so in either direction. In this age of instant information, we maybe lulled into thinking of ourselves as 'omnipowerful' as we are 'artificially omniscient'. Why, then, do I find it so hard to focus on that space and seek to live in an imaginary world of my own making?
I find it far easier to blame the current administration than to walk a few feet and give some love to my neighbor or family member when giving love would make a small but real difference.
Yes, tomorrow is uncertain. Today's moment is the only one that is stone concrete and crystal clear. I must not reject it or flee from it to some other ethereal place out of either fear or laziness. To do this is not to truly live the gift of my own life.
I must remember that tomorrow's uncertainty includes a certainty. God. That is what I know.
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