Although it's a little bit past New Years, or a little bit ahead (depends on how you look at it), I have made a new resolution. STOP WATCHING THE NEWS! And, this one hurts a bit more, stop watching Dr. Phil. I used to put Dr. Phil on my DVR, and then tune in at night, for a nice little mindless entertainment. And now I can't.
Last week, I caught a Dr. Phil show that just frustrated me greatly. He had on several economic "experts". for a round table discussion on the economy as it stands now. Well, suffice it to say, it was not a positive outlook for regular folks out there like you and me. One of his guests was Ben Stein. Some of you may recall him as the teacher in "Ferris Buellers Day Off" (Bueller? Bueller? Bueller?). He also had a game show at one time called "Win Ben Steins Money". OK, I'm not sure how he became an economic "expert", but of course this is Dr Phil, not the Wall Street Journal, so there you go.
Long story short, the concensus from Ben Stein and company is that its gonna get worse, a lot worse. The houseing market is in the tubes for the long haul. Get your money out of the banks, put NOTHING on credit and hunker down for a long winter ahead. And I turned off the show feeling very blue, about the market, about my life.
And in the hour that followed, I noticed how negative I felt about everything. I didn't want to think about work. I didn't want to make any calls. I started wonderding "Maybe its time to go look for that part-time job". Then, I STOPPED. Dead in my tracks. I stopped and took a long look at how I was allowing one simple show to affect my mood. And as many of you know from personal experience, moods become an animal of their own making, feeding on everything in their path. Positive mood? Its amazing how good things will just float into your life. Bad mood? Same thing, but with negative outcomes.
So in that moment of clarity, I decided that for me, ignorance IS bliss. The media, and good ole' Dr. Phil, love sensationalism. Myself, I cant have it in my life. I don't plan to be ignorant of the daily goings on in the world, but I now know I have to be much smarter and careful in choosing the sources from which that news comes to me. CLEAR, UNBIASED, FACTS. I don't know how much of this I'll actually be able to find!
But for me, regardless of all the chicken littles saying the world is coming to an end, I choose to remain wrapped in my little cocoon that is Preble County Ohio, helping dreams come true, and keeping my head in the clouds.
Kelley Weimer
A House "SOLD" Name
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