It's All Doom And Gloom. Or Is It?

A cursory browse of the news today made for gloomy reading. In England the rivers are drying up, whilst elsewhere bacteria are evolving faster than we can produce antibiotics. We’ve got Iran with increasingly advanced nuclear proficiency, whilst Israel watches on, almost certain to make a pre-emptive strike before uranium can be enriched to weapons grade. And that was just four articles. There’s an economic climate less responsive than a teenager to his/her alarm clock, and a group of republican presidential candidates that don’t appear to have a brain cell between them.

On a positive note, though, at least there’s a new Angry Birds due out soon.

Are we suffering from news overload? And is it good to have so much information flooding our senses day after day after day? On balance I think yes, largely because I’d rather suffer from informed angst than bewildered ignorance. There was a time in my life when I simply accepted what people fed me, which reduced me to a good natured but credulous fool. These days I take nothing on authority, and if I want to figure out fact from fiction I accept that I have to do the hard yards. Concerning those articles above you can be sure that some have more substance than others, but if you want to know the truth you need to do a bit of donkey work. And while you’re at it, it may help to appreciate that you’re not always entitled to good news, or a happy ending. More often than not life is plain indifferent to our moods and needs, and I wonder how many of us truly appreciate that?

And now to the crux; there is so much that we’re not in control of, so many variables and possible outcomes. I think the best we can do is try to love and support each other through the times of discontent, and grasp two handed those periods when the sun shines and the grass is green. As I reflect on my life I have much to be thankful for; an amazing wife, great daughters, a raft of interests and hobbies and relative good health to enjoy them with. I don’t take this for granted. I wouldn’t dare. And I have my blue days. But when all’s said and done we’re in this together, right? Surely we’re going to enjoy the ride more if we’re willing to help and support each other along the road? Yes, there is a lot of bad news, and a lot of it we cause ourselves. But, and this is important, we’re an amazing species, too. Right at this moment we’ve got people working to make our lives longer, richer, more productive. And there’s also a vast ocean of humanity that wants to look beyond itself and make the life of their fellows better. So let’s not be too downhearted, and let’s see whether we can be part of making the whole shebang run just that bit smoother.