Have you noticed how wise children are? How do they seem to come up with some deep truth from time to time that makes you step back and say “wow”?
I had one of those moments earlier this week. The children and I were watching television and, realizing the time, I flipped through the channels to watch the news. Quickly moans and groans followed … along the lines of “borrrinnnggg” and “do we have to see this?”
However, my older (or should I say older, seems very appropriate in the circumstances?) Of them said that the problem with the news as we see it publicly is almost always bad. Why, he asked, couldn’t we have a show dedicated exclusively to the good news? “I’m sure there is more to that to talk about,” he said.
You are right, of course. The news headlines always lead to wars, death, destruction, famine and floods. But surely there have to be a lot of good things happening in the world? Of course there are, and I’m also pretty sure that more people would tune in to see a show that was full of things to be happy about.
When all we hear is pessimism, it’s no wonder we get depressed. It is not surprising that we see the worst in everything when it is implied that the world is driven by devastation. Okay, maybe I’m exaggerating a bit, but have you noticed that the heated news they report always makes it to the bottom of the Gaming News? Why is that? Do you think that we will somehow forget all the depressing things that happened before? Hardly, if the older son is to be believed “I can’t stay with that mom, I’ll be too depressed by then!”
Maybe we should all start lobbying for “Good News” news programs, where all they talk about is sunshine, happiness and success? Not to replace existing news shows, of course, we cannot totally disconnect from the reality of the world around us, but as an alternative for those of us who want a little boost.
Then every night, depending on how we were feeling, we had a choice. We could “press the red button now for alternative news” if it suits us. We might even see snippets of both … and that would probably be the smartest choice. Isn’t that a more accurate reflection of real life? No, it can’t always be a lot of laughs, but there is always something good out there; it’s just that sometimes we have to look a little further to find it. And since life is hard enough already, wouldn’t it be great if we didn’t have to try so hard to find something to be happy about?