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A positive direction
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Of all the items I write here, the ones that get the most hits are those with “positive” in the title. It’s obvious why – because we live in a world that for most folks is anything but positive.
Over the years, I’ve stopped watching the national news on TV – it’s overwhelmingly depressing. I watch local news – it’s more positive, usually, but the national news shows have largely turned into a pure waste of my time.
I read a lot of news – the Wall Street Journal is my favorite publication. I also read news on the web, and I keep up on business news.
But except for major stories, I choose what type of news I allow in my mind, and who I allow to put it there.
Particularly in sweeps month on TV, if you watch the news programs religiously, you’re going to think that the world has gone to Hell – and taken you with it. That’s because TV news (and to a lesser extent print media) makes its living out of selling you “dramatic” news. In sweeps month, that trend is doubled – or tripled. Everything that turns up on the news is going to be hyped with crazed voices telling you of the troubles that lie in your path (incidentally, try watching the local news in multiple markets – you hear the same “doom and gloom” announcers, often hyping the same sorts of stories).
You know, sometimes, it’s more difficult than ever to try and stay positive – and yet, in our lives, it’s incredibly important that we keep on a positive direction.
Life is meant to be lived – and lived to its fullest. That means different things to different people. To some people, “living life to its fullest” may mean a life dedicated to partying, while to another, it might mean a life dedicated to public service. Whatever way you might go, it’s up to you to set your destination in life – and then keep on the path to your destination, no matter what negative elements might pop up in the meantime.
If we compare this to a road analogy, when we set off on a trip, we’re constantly bombarded with billboards that try and lure us off the roadway. Sometimes, those billboards help us along the way – sometimes, they lure us to places we wouldn’t ordinarily go.
But unlike our trip analogy, the difference is even with all those billboards, we still seem to get to our destination, at least most of the time. In our life, those same diversions can get us off track, off the path, and keep us from making it to our destination.
Now, let me make this clear – I’m not saying that all of these diversions are the responsibility of the news media, the billboard companies, entertainment, religion, detours, or anything else.
I’m saying that we are the ones who have to take the responsibility for keeping us on track toward a positive direction – and then if (or when) we get off track, bringing us back on the correct path to our destination.
It’s easy to get diverted, sidetracked, detoured. It’s sometimes difficult to stay on the right path.
But even if we take a wrong road occasionally, if we keep our destination clear, it’s easy for us to bring ourselves back on a path that will lead us to where we seek to go.
Negative diversions, no matter what they are, aren’t really the culprit here – we choose where to go, what path to take, what road to follow. We choose our destination, and then choose to either divert from that road, or follow a path to where we want to wind up.
Detours and wrong turns abound in life – but if we keep a positive destination, and set a positive direction to reach that destination, we’ll be all right.
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Copyright, 2008, by Daryl R. Gibson and WeekdayWisdom.com. All rights reserved. Permission is hereby granted for the non-commercial redistribution of this document as long as it remains intact with this copyright and all other lines. This license does not extend to the use of this material in a compilation, whether for profit or non-profit use. Join us at http://www.WeekdayWisdom.com.
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