Sold at my garage sale and now being appreciated in a new home.
The Divine considers this one of the most inspirational quotes for women –and for men– because the Divine is not happy with what is going on in the world. Not at all.
Well, ok, it’s probably more that I am not happy with what is going on the world.
Are you?
The Divine is perfect and has created the world to operate the way it does for a reason. Whatever that may be. God’s plan is mysterious.
Far be it from me to quibble. Even if I want to.
But at the risk of being ungracious, I must ask the question: WTF?
M and I talk a lot about the state of the world when we take walks. Just the other day I was saying that I thought this might be the worst time in our history. He pointed out that our parents (and us, when we were young) lived under threat of nuclear destruction –a threat so pervasive we learned to duck and cover in school. His point was that the world has always been like this.
And maybe it has.
I try to stay away from the news. Do I really need to hear about another beheading? Or that a woman was stoned to death? Can I stand another bomb going off somewhere, anywhere? Or more people being shot and killed? A crazy pilot left in charge? Cable news networks that beat bad news to death over and over and over…
I’d like God to come down and tell us that none of it really happened. That it’s all an April Fool’s joke.
By the way, if, like so many people, you are now quite worried about flying, Capt. Tom Bunn has some tips for you in a piece for this week’s TIME. Capt. Tom is both a retired airline captain and a therapist; he founded SOAR, the fear of flying course that worked so well for me 15 years ago when the fear hit me out of nowhere. It’s worth a read. The course is excellent. I blogged about it and my experiences, HERE.
How do you cope with the state of the world today?
Hmmm. I tend to agree with M. My beloved father-in-law talks a lot about how bad things have gotten. He misses the time when we were young. I say, “That time of civil unrest, of assassinations, of terrorist attacks at the Olympics, of mass suicides on islands, of presidential impeachment and Vietnam? That glorious time?!”
The state of the world today can get so very overwhelming. Sadly, I’ve stopped reading much of the news because I find myself getting depressed. I try to read the “fun” parts of the paper, like the Style and Food sections. That doesn’t mean I’m not aware of what’s going on – I just try not to dwell on it too much or for too long.
It can be very overwhelming. Being a highly sensitive person the despair in the world can really take a toll on me. Bccause I am involved in animal welfare and spreading the trust about Pit Bulls, it’s especially hard to see such cruelty that exists. I’m also a vegetarian for that reason and some days it makes me sick to my stomach knowing what those animals suffer through 🙁
I have no choice but to be tuned in to the news and honestly I agree with your husband the world really has always been like this. I am worried about the state of journalism today. There seems to be no standard of quality and truth. People tend to believe the first thing they hear and if that first thing is false, it just continues to be put out there. This terrifies me.
I have been suffering the same news fatigue. It gets to a point of saturation where even expressing frustration is tiring. Worse, is when you DO find positive things to talk about and some other Eeyore reminds us of the negative. Sigh.
For me, the only thing that works is to insulate myself, even for a couple of days, and go on a news fast.
We lived through the ’60’s and survived. The difference today is the 24/7 news cycle. It is overwhelming sometimes. I find it sad we still have so much hate in the world. But, ignoring the news, whether print or broadcast, is like covering your eyes and saying, “You can’t see me!” We need to be engaged if we want to make a difference. It’s just not easy.
b
I’m getting on a plane this Friday and you’d better believe I’m glancing into the cockpit as I board to see just how crazy they look in there. And I’m guessing that I won’t be the only passenger to do so. (And thanks for that Time link!)
Honestly, I try not to dwell on it too much. Then there’s always thinking on the positive. I really believe there is soooo much good out there. We only hear the really bad stuff. There are countless good people (not perfect) but good folks like us just trying to get by and help where we can.
How do I cope? I try to pray as much as I can and then I go in denial mode. LOL! Seriously, I believe we all have to practice denial on some level. I don’t mean to say I don’t keep abreast of current events and don’t care what happens. But I have a strong inclination for paranoia and if I really think of everything that’s happening now, I’m bound to think the world doesn’t stand a chance for surviving five more years. There are crazies, the corrupt, the extremists, the resistant bacteria, the asteroids, or the sun can just one day die..soon. Oh and there’s alien invasion too. So, yeah….I need to tone it down and pray.
The super short news cycles and the desire for them to burn every single second of each segment into our brains seem to create these awful news programs. It’s so depressing.
Ah, there is never anything new. Each generation has its share of tragedies and fears. I am rather a news junkie (national and international news that is), so I’m pretty up to date. It is all depressing, but so were the pictures of the Vietnam War on the tv when I was little. Each generation feels like they’ve had the worst time in history….but tragedy is always around. It is the nature of things.
I think the world has always been this way, unfortunately. What has changed is our instant accessibility to the news, and the way the media reports events. I refuse to watch anymore.
I wish God would come down and explain to those extreme bigots who use Him/Her as an excuse to hate and discriminate that they are ones who are the problem.
I am probably older than anyone posting here and I don’t believe it was always this way. When I was growing up the world was a safer place. People knew and communicated with their neighbors IN PERSON. Families lived close by and gathered together for Sunday dinners, parades, and picnics in summer or sledding in wintertime. Cars didn’t go as fast. People actually talked to each other; happy times as well as grief was shared. We had respect for our elders and honor wasn’t a foreign word. Be in by dark or stay away from strangers were our biggest warnings. I honestly believe people were healthier then, at least mentally and emotionally. Nobody put poison or needles in our Halloween candy. If one became depressed they didn’t have to phone a crisis line and talk to a stranger…and I’m not knocking crisis intervention lines because I work one twice a week. While I think technology has provided us with many wonderful opportunities and information a keystroke away, we’ve lost that interpersonal relationship with one another that happens face to face. A visit over a cup of tea has been replaced. {{{Hugs}}} does not replace the real thing–the physical contact that every human, every human brain needs. Think of the human touch a new baby needs to thrive. Well, we all need it to thrive and we have so much less of it. We’ve become a disposable society in so many ways and it saddens me. By the way, I don’t watch the news either. It glorifies everything that’s wrong with our world today, it gives air time to those who have no respect for the law, and I don’t need that going into my brain. If God did come down, I think first of all He’d weep and then He’d hug us, hold us, listen to us, and bring peace back into our lives. We’ve lost something and if we all worked hard it wouldn’t be impossible to put it back in place.
I don’t watch the news much either. It’s too depressing. I focus on doing good in my corner of the world and making things a better place where I live because that’s all I can really control.
Sometimes I think it can’t possibly get worse, but I guess it’s all relative, like you said. Our parents thought what they were going through was as equally horrific as what we see on our news today.
24×7 news is overwhelming for me. There is always good and bad news going on all the time. I can’t handle too much of it.. need news only in moderation.
I guess the world has always been a ‘bad’ place, Carol. It’s just that (bad) news travels faster these days thanks to better communication! I avoid the news too, but there are certain things we just can’t get our minds around. That airline tragedy is one of them. I’m forever wondering why the guy took so many people with him! We’ll never know.
Thanks for the links to Capt Tom. He’s doing a great service!
Sometimes I think the actual news was drawn from a book of fiction. It can’t happen in real life, but no, there are actual videos of tragedies, victims, and horror. Then the media plays the videos over and over and over and over. They pound the atrocities into our living rooms. The only defense is to turn off the media! I’m afraid we will become unmoved by the reports after hearing them 24 hours a day and lose our sense of compassion and not care anymore about others. I try to find peace in my little corner of the world and hope the peace may spread to my community and reach a wider group of people. I’m just glad to know God is wrapping his/her arms around us to get through it all.
Yeah I don’t watch the news either; they only report on the negatives to get everyone wriled up. We do live in a pretty great place and just have to do our part to make the world a happier place.
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I don’t watch the news either. There is too much bad these days and I don’t want to hear it.
Hmmm. I tend to agree with M. My beloved father-in-law talks a lot about how bad things have gotten. He misses the time when we were young. I say, “That time of civil unrest, of assassinations, of terrorist attacks at the Olympics, of mass suicides on islands, of presidential impeachment and Vietnam? That glorious time?!”
Sometimes I just have to think about something a little happier and then move on with my day!
The way I deal with life today…Try NOT to watch the news much.
The state of the world today can get so very overwhelming. Sadly, I’ve stopped reading much of the news because I find myself getting depressed. I try to read the “fun” parts of the paper, like the Style and Food sections. That doesn’t mean I’m not aware of what’s going on – I just try not to dwell on it too much or for too long.
I have to agree it’s in very bad shape and I believe it’s only going to get worse.
It all comes down to faith, for me. I trust Him to work it all out in the end. Great thought for today!
It can be very overwhelming. Being a highly sensitive person the despair in the world can really take a toll on me. Bccause I am involved in animal welfare and spreading the trust about Pit Bulls, it’s especially hard to see such cruelty that exists. I’m also a vegetarian for that reason and some days it makes me sick to my stomach knowing what those animals suffer through 🙁
I dont watch the news and I generally avoid it online too. Nothing good ever comes of it so I avoid.
I have no choice but to be tuned in to the news and honestly I agree with your husband the world really has always been like this. I am worried about the state of journalism today. There seems to be no standard of quality and truth. People tend to believe the first thing they hear and if that first thing is false, it just continues to be put out there. This terrifies me.
I have been suffering the same news fatigue. It gets to a point of saturation where even expressing frustration is tiring. Worse, is when you DO find positive things to talk about and some other Eeyore reminds us of the negative. Sigh.
For me, the only thing that works is to insulate myself, even for a couple of days, and go on a news fast.
We lived through the ’60’s and survived. The difference today is the 24/7 news cycle. It is overwhelming sometimes. I find it sad we still have so much hate in the world. But, ignoring the news, whether print or broadcast, is like covering your eyes and saying, “You can’t see me!” We need to be engaged if we want to make a difference. It’s just not easy.
b
I’m getting on a plane this Friday and you’d better believe I’m glancing into the cockpit as I board to see just how crazy they look in there. And I’m guessing that I won’t be the only passenger to do so. (And thanks for that Time link!)
I try to stay away from the news also. They hardly ever report anything good. It is sad and depressing.
Honestly, I try not to dwell on it too much. Then there’s always thinking on the positive. I really believe there is soooo much good out there. We only hear the really bad stuff. There are countless good people (not perfect) but good folks like us just trying to get by and help where we can.
How do I cope? I try to pray as much as I can and then I go in denial mode. LOL! Seriously, I believe we all have to practice denial on some level. I don’t mean to say I don’t keep abreast of current events and don’t care what happens. But I have a strong inclination for paranoia and if I really think of everything that’s happening now, I’m bound to think the world doesn’t stand a chance for surviving five more years. There are crazies, the corrupt, the extremists, the resistant bacteria, the asteroids, or the sun can just one day die..soon. Oh and there’s alien invasion too. So, yeah….I need to tone it down and pray.
I don’t watch the news either. I do waht I can to help others, be a good person, and raise my kids to be.
The super short news cycles and the desire for them to burn every single second of each segment into our brains seem to create these awful news programs. It’s so depressing.
It seems as if there is a lot out there that we must take with a grain of salt. And learn how to move on I guess.
Ah, there is never anything new. Each generation has its share of tragedies and fears. I am rather a news junkie (national and international news that is), so I’m pretty up to date. It is all depressing, but so were the pictures of the Vietnam War on the tv when I was little. Each generation feels like they’ve had the worst time in history….but tragedy is always around. It is the nature of things.
I read the end of the book. I know what is coming so the present doesn’t surprise nor concern me. But……wish it was later rather than sooner. 🙁
The news is so depressing that I just thank God every morning for my blessings and to keep my family safe and healthy.
I think the world has always been this way, unfortunately. What has changed is our instant accessibility to the news, and the way the media reports events. I refuse to watch anymore.
I wish God would come down and explain to those extreme bigots who use Him/Her as an excuse to hate and discriminate that they are ones who are the problem.
I wish all of that bad news was an April Fool’s Joke too. It seems like nothing good is ever featured on the news anymore. So depressing.
I am probably older than anyone posting here and I don’t believe it was always this way. When I was growing up the world was a safer place. People knew and communicated with their neighbors IN PERSON. Families lived close by and gathered together for Sunday dinners, parades, and picnics in summer or sledding in wintertime. Cars didn’t go as fast. People actually talked to each other; happy times as well as grief was shared. We had respect for our elders and honor wasn’t a foreign word. Be in by dark or stay away from strangers were our biggest warnings. I honestly believe people were healthier then, at least mentally and emotionally. Nobody put poison or needles in our Halloween candy. If one became depressed they didn’t have to phone a crisis line and talk to a stranger…and I’m not knocking crisis intervention lines because I work one twice a week. While I think technology has provided us with many wonderful opportunities and information a keystroke away, we’ve lost that interpersonal relationship with one another that happens face to face. A visit over a cup of tea has been replaced. {{{Hugs}}} does not replace the real thing–the physical contact that every human, every human brain needs. Think of the human touch a new baby needs to thrive. Well, we all need it to thrive and we have so much less of it. We’ve become a disposable society in so many ways and it saddens me. By the way, I don’t watch the news either. It glorifies everything that’s wrong with our world today, it gives air time to those who have no respect for the law, and I don’t need that going into my brain. If God did come down, I think first of all He’d weep and then He’d hug us, hold us, listen to us, and bring peace back into our lives. We’ve lost something and if we all worked hard it wouldn’t be impossible to put it back in place.
I don’t watch the news much either. It’s too depressing. I focus on doing good in my corner of the world and making things a better place where I live because that’s all I can really control.
Sometimes I think it can’t possibly get worse, but I guess it’s all relative, like you said. Our parents thought what they were going through was as equally horrific as what we see on our news today.
24×7 news is overwhelming for me. There is always good and bad news going on all the time. I can’t handle too much of it.. need news only in moderation.
I guess the world has always been a ‘bad’ place, Carol. It’s just that (bad) news travels faster these days thanks to better communication! I avoid the news too, but there are certain things we just can’t get our minds around. That airline tragedy is one of them. I’m forever wondering why the guy took so many people with him! We’ll never know.
Thanks for the links to Capt Tom. He’s doing a great service!
Sometimes I think the actual news was drawn from a book of fiction. It can’t happen in real life, but no, there are actual videos of tragedies, victims, and horror. Then the media plays the videos over and over and over and over. They pound the atrocities into our living rooms. The only defense is to turn off the media! I’m afraid we will become unmoved by the reports after hearing them 24 hours a day and lose our sense of compassion and not care anymore about others. I try to find peace in my little corner of the world and hope the peace may spread to my community and reach a wider group of people. I’m just glad to know God is wrapping his/her arms around us to get through it all.
Yeah I don’t watch the news either; they only report on the negatives to get everyone wriled up. We do live in a pretty great place and just have to do our part to make the world a happier place.