Opting Out and Opting In

A little while ago, I deleted all my news apps, got rid of most of the newsfeeds that I could in Facebook, kicked more than a few political/newsy type blogs to the curb and guess what.

I don’t miss the hysteria, wailing, gnashing of teeth, how we are teetering on the brink of the end of the world as we know it.

It may well happen.

I will or will not be there when it happens.

Until it happens or I die, I plan to life a full and good life, that is not burdened by being constantly bombarded with all the ills and evil in the world according to the those who control the airwaves.

Since I did that dirty deed – that stop listening to or constantly reading the 24/7 news/blogging or hitting the next news link, I have noticed a huge change in myself.

I am calmer, more positive, I am not seeing everything as “is the the crisis that kills the camel” to hell with breaking its back. Even when given the opportunity to lash out at others that see things differently than I do, instead I am stopping to look at what purpose or who does it serve.

Usually it serves no purpose.

So I have opted out.

The news cycles are not the reason for my life and they are simply drowning the world in the use of words that emphasize the horrible, terrible parts of the news and make the vast amount of good that is in the world seem to be the tiny part, not the major part which I still believe that it is.

That does not mean that I have  buried my head in the sand about what is going on and the problems or issues that do exist in this Country or the World, but at the same time I have taken back my sanity.

I am returning to who I am.

That is part of the process I believe, that you get to take back who you are, when you stop letting others control the stories that you hear or read.

It was time

I could tell that I was getting pieces of me back when I started to read for pleasure again and become a part of the books that I was reading – a very good thing. Over the last week, I have re-read a couple of books – something that I did not have time or focus for before.

I was always too busy following.

No, I didn’t make a mistake where I ended the sentence, it was very purposefully done.

They were classic Sword and Sorcery Fantasy books – Robert Jordans’ First Book in the Wheel of Time series and Guy Gavriel Kay’s “The Summer Tree” the first book in The Fionavar Tapestry Trilogy (one of my all-time favorites).

Over the past couple of years, I have not been able to sit down and just read for enjoyment, I was too busy paying attention, thinking that I might miss something and attempting to keep up with the latest horrible news cycle that would be forgotten, when the next crisis loomed large.

For me, it is time to stop following, take charge of the life I live and not let it be burdened or consumed by the stories others deem to be the crisis du jour.

I like this path that I am stumbling towards, it will present many challenges, but also more than a few more smiles and who knows where it will lead.

All I know is that I have opted in to something that is more me and maybe us.