I recently counted the number of screens in my home.  Including TVs and computers of various sizes, the current count for myself, my husband and our youngest, still at home son stands at 14.  No wonder I sometimes feel frazzled and overloaded.  And when I cannot get a screen to work I just feel stupid.  I am not a big TV person but I do love the news and “talking heads.”   I also, like the rest of the world, have discovered podcasts and Netflix.  But sometimes I just have to say enough is enough!  Unplug!  The sound of silence is still refreshing and healthy.  Ahhhh…….Gentle conversation with others, a quiet walk, a good book…with real pages!    I have noticed that when I unplug and slow down for a short time, my brain begins, after a bit,  to have creative thoughts and ideas again.  The pressure lessens and things look more beautiful.

I think we all are like a frozen computer screen at times…we just need to be turned off for awhile.  I saw this quote by Anne Lamott in a magazine recently.  She said”Almost everything will work again if you unplug it for a few minutes, including you.”  So I shall close….time to REBOOT!

It is so easy to be overwhelmed by all that is wrong in the world. We are bombarded almost constantly by problems that are beyond our ability to fix…or even understand. I am convinced that it is not healthy. As a physician, I see patients suffer from extreme anxiety incongruous with their own life difficulties.  How does one stay calm and functional in this very messy world?

One  answer is to monitor what we expose ourselves to.   What do we read?   To what do we listen?  Where do we get our news?  News sources today have become entertainment. The goal is to keep us entranced, listening for the next detail just like a good piece of fiction. But it is not fiction! And we do not have the resources to handle the problems of the whole world. We are finite. Our resources…mental, emotional, spiritual and financial resources….are all finite. When we are constantly inundated by problems and tragedies that happen far away and cause us to grieve and worry as if we could do something about them but cannot, we put ourselves in a position to get sick.

So how do we stay informed without becoming overanxious?  We cannot avoid hearing what is going on around us, nor do we really want to.  We can, however, be a little more selective.  Some TV personalities are more dramatic and inflammatory than others.  Also, we  can choose to listen just once.  We don’t have to listen to several shows in a row, all repeating the same thing. It is amazing how you can learn most of what you get during several hours of TV coverage in a good 5 minute synopsis.

We can  select shows that give unbiased news without a lot of commentary.  We are smart enough to make our own conclusions, and often don’t realize how we are influenced by the opinions of people that we do not really know.  Do you really know Bill O’Riley or Anderson Cooper?  And when something wholesome or encouraging is reported,  we can email or write to show that we appreciate that!  For them, it is about ratings and keeping us happy and coming back for more.

It cannot be right to put our head in the sand or to pretend we don’t care!  We were designed by our creator to be relational.  But how far does our own sphere of influence extend?   Who in that sphere is doing well and who could use our help?  For most of us, our sphere of influence is not the whole world, no matter how influential we would like to think we are. It is not heartless to not want to hear about every imaginative crime in cities not our own. Wherever we live, our own city has enough. And we might be able to help in our own city. So perhaps we should save our energy  for that.

Our own mental health is also improved by  looking for the good that surrounds us. In the midst of this fallen world there is a tremendous amount that is true, honorable, just, pure, lovely and commendable. Let us look for what is excellent and worthy of praise and give it at least equal billing!  And if someone else does this on TV or radio or in print, then give kudos to them!

I recently made a visit to my hometown. Like lots of people, I have wonderful memories of growing up in the 60s and 70s in a prosperous community. Nancy Sinatra’s song “Downtown” rang true back then. Downtown was fun and where the action was before indoor malls. I remember a huge Montgomery Ward store with a large candy counter where my mom would buy a bag of mixed malted milk balls and chocolate stars. So I was excited to stroll those sidewalks again. But memory lane is not always such a beautiful street. The gorgeous stone church I attended is still there, but the steps I climbed so often to enter the sanctuary are gone and replaced by a wall. My elementary school lies vacant with weeds in front that are taller than the kids that used to attend. My high school also lies empty – someone painted the doors pink before it closed. The streets of small but well kept homes are in disrepair. The town has hit hard times. It depended on one industry and did not diversify. The town leaders did not foresee the future, so now my hometown lies in disarray.

Memory lane is a good place to visit and the past holds many lessons for today. But I can get stuck in the past. Rather than take the lessons it teaches and move forward, I tend to grow melancholy. Like the apostle Paul says, forgetting what lies behind one must press forward. I do not want to stumble now because I am not looking where I am going. I had a beautiful past and God promises a beautiful future eventually. But for now, I would not want to stumble on anything behind me! I shall concentrate on improving today and dream of what lies ahead.