Crisis? What Crisis? (A Supertramp album in the 70’s)
There is so much going on ALL the time, and you can’t escape it. There is no respite. What with continual news feed updates, CNN, the New York Times, even your local TV stations let you know every tragic event that unfolds the second it unfolds. Yes, maybe the public does like to be INFORMED but do we need to be barraged with each and every single thing that goes wrong everywhere all the time. Our psyche just can’t process the sheer volume of it.
As I have quoted my old friend and colleague from UMKC Medical School, Dr. Lee Graves III, MD, “its OK though, doesn’t matter”. Internalize this phrase and just spontaneously blurt this phrase out, the minute something goes wrong. You’ll feel better and it offends no one. Cuss words are purely learned programmed responses that we blurt out, not because they are an appropriate answer or even a germane response. Once in high school, some friends of mine tried to “invent” our own cuss word replacement. Seeing that a lot of cuss words were monosyllabic, we started saying “trees”. Skeptic at first, my buddy Randy Hamann couldn’t get the answer once in Calculus class, so, in a disgusted tone he exclaimed “Trees!” Amazed he had remembered, we all looked over at him “Hey,” he said happily, “You guys were right. I do feel better and nobody gets sent to the Principal’s office”. With a little more effort, Dr. Graves’ “It’s OK though, doesn’t matter” can be substituted as well.
The point is: Lighten Up. There’s way too much bad in the world and dwelling on it, repeating it, re-posting it and re-tweeting it helps no-one. They probably saw the news on the same or a similar news feed as gave you the news. With depression, melancholy, loneliness and hopelessness at an all time high, why not “Lighten up, then things will brighten up”. Send them a card with the phrase “It’s OK though, doesn’t matter”. Send them a card with a selfie or something light-hearted on it. Sending them anything will help. Have a conversation with Ralph Harold, “guywithtwofirstnames.com,” make it a habit of being happy and “Take it to the Bank.”
Ralph Harold
ralph@guywithtwofirstnames.com
816-808-2465