Talk radio has gone hysterical. Today, most of the hosts talked about how to save money. People called in with suggestions: I got rid of my cell phone. I trade books with friends. I stopped buying DVDs. Seems to me that, if there can be an up side to the economy, it's that folks will maybe be better stewards of what they have. Maybe we will all do with our money what we should have been doing all along.
I think that is the approach I want to take. I am getting really tired of the drama because, frankly, I can escalate into hysteria quite easily. I seem to forget that I lack nothing. I have all I need, especially when I rely on the media for my sense of well-being and security.
A few months ago, Northwest and Delta Airlines announced that they were considering a merger. Someone said to me, "It's just awful. The merger would be just awful."
Huh, I thought. Why? I asked.
"Because plane tickets are going to go up," said she.
"What do I care?" I said, "I don't go anywhere."
I realize that there are plenty of people who do fly, that there are businesses that have to pay for employees to fly. Prices of everything go up when fuel prices go up. Rising prices effect us all. I get it. However, the fact for my life is that my husband and I have a small child, and we are on a budget. Our trips are centered around weddings and funerals. So, for us, the fact that plane tickets are going to cost more doesn't really affect our bottom-line. I am concerned about covering our needs, some reasonable wants, paying down debt, and saving.
I don't have enough serenity to worry about other people's plane tickets.
Affirming the abundance of the universe is always difficult, but it is basically impossible when the T.V. is on. So, I mostly abstain from relentless media coverage which feeds our fear and sense of lack. I try to protect myself from images and ideas in the same way I try to protect my kiddo from scary images on TV.
Last winter, I decided not to watch the news. I began the information detox. I was getting comfortable with the not knowing. I was almost clean, and then I thought that I ought to check out the weather. I need to know how to dress my kid in the morning, I told myself. I tuned in for the weather report during the 10 o'clock news. I saw hysteria: there will be 18 inches of snow tomorrow. It will be -50 degrees below zero, windchill.
I panicked. Oh my God. Why do we live here? How can I send a small child out in these arctic temperatures? Do we have enough groceries? What did I do in a past life to deserve this? And so the serenity goes. This is real. I saw it on the news. The world is closing in on me.
I get the groceries. I fill the gas tank. I buy salt for the walk. I am ready for the storm. I commiserate with ladies in the sauna at the gym. Isn't it awful? I am swept up into the drama. Since I had been living this way for at least thirty years, I feel completely cozy with fear, dread, and victimization. This is war. Me v. the weather.
Then the storm turns out to be about 2 inches and no colder than it has been lately. I feel manipulated. For me, living according to what the media tells me is the same as living with an alcoholic. It's always unpredictable, sometimes entertaining, and, ultimately, a collosal and demoralizing waste of energy.
My plan is to focus on my own checkbook, and stick my head out the door before I leave the house. I will put my energy into what I value the most: my serenity.
No comments:
Post a Comment