“Where’s
this headed, and why the hand basket?”- Peter Mulvey
On a daily basis anymore I see people complain that the
world is in decline. People worry that the end of civilization as we know
it is fast approaching. Sometimes they think it’s because of a decline in
morality, because of the political failings (or successes, depending on your
viewpoint) of world leaders, because of the global economic shifts, or because
of the growth of any particular creed, race, nationality, or sexuality, or
perhaps because of some reason that I’m glossing over.
Whatever reason they believe it to be, one thing is
certain: The sky is falling…
We have the incredible ability now to access virtually any
information in the world in an instant. You don't even have to go seek it
out with a few simple keystrokes; instead the information that you want is
instantly sent to your phone or tablet. It's on the homepage of your
browser, it's in the "Articles you might like" section, and it's
taking over your social media as videos and articles go viral through the
online community.
This amazing level of access to information has been the cause
of some truly awesome things in our global society. Massive amounts of money have been raised for
deserving charities, disease research, and potato salad. Wrongs have been righted in the court of
public opinion, even though plenty of other wrongs have been committed or gone
unnoticed.
Yet perhaps the most awe-inspiring thing that the
information age has brought upon us is the onset of fear (awe-inspiring doesn’t
mean good, terrible things can inspire awe as well). Via consumerism in this brave new world, fear
is being spread far, wide, and constantly.
It’s at this point that I was GOING to talk about
consumerism and how it has turned fear into, by and far, the largest and most
effective marketing tool ever. However,
this post was getting too long. So I’ve
split that part off for a future post.
Stay tuned!
In our society there is always at least one large news
story casting fear over our minds and doubt over our safety. Right now those stories are Ebola, ISIS, and Big
Bad Evil NFL players. But let’s take a
look at some of the scares from past years…
2009:
Beheading
by Al-Qaeda in Pakistan
Israel
was at war in the Gaza Strip
North
Korea continues to fire test rockets and missiles as well as nuclear tests.
Swine Flu
3
commercial passenger planes crash
2010:
5 commercial
passenger planes crash
Massive
earthquakes in Haiti, Chile, China, and Indonesia
BP oil
spill in the Gulf of Mexico
WikiLeaks
North
Korea shells YeongPyeong Island prompting potential conflict between North and
South Korea.
2011:
Arab
Spring
Earthquake
and tsunami in Japan leading to the meltdown at the Fukushima Nuclear Plant
United
States credit is downgraded due to massive debt
Another
Iraqi insurgency
Occupy
Wallstreet movement and protests turn violent in Oakland and other cities
2012:
End of
the Mayan Calendar*facepalm*
Attacks
in response to the Innocence of Muslims
trailer
Mexican
Drug Cartels and assassination attempts on CIA agents in Mexico
Israel fighting
again in the Gaza Strip
Large
Hadron Collider “recreating the Big Bang”
2013:
More nuclear
tests in North Korea
Large
meteor strike in Chelyabinsk Russia causes worries that Deep Impact could come
true.
Syrian
Civil war
Edward
Snowden
More
plane crashes
Now we’re in the year 2014 and already we’ve had plane
crashes, missing planes, wars, assassinations, terrorist threats, reemergence
of old diseases, brand new diseases, and whatever political “crisis” you are
the most scared of.
The fact of the matter is that terrible stuff happens all
the time. It happens world-wide, people
die, misery ensues, and at some point(s) in your life you will experience
terror and desolation firsthand. It will
be difficult, you’ll doubt whether or not you’ll pull through it, and you may
not be able to.
There isn’t much that you can do to prepare for that
eventuality either. No matter how much
you worry and prepare, you won’t be truly ready when that day comes. 90% of your preparation will slip through
your fingers when it happens.
This leaves you with a choice; you can worry days away in
fear of this pending disaster or that imminent doom. There will always be plenty to choose from
whether it’s a potential plague, a terrorist attack, war, natural disasters,
accidents, or even just people that are different than you, you can always find
some reason to be afraid of the world.
The real trick is to take the other choice. Rather than worrying and panicking over
everything that the nightly news or your Facebook News Feed tells you, choose
to ignore the fear and enjoy life as it happens.
Through all of the dilemmas and epidemics that hit the
world on a constant basis, life continues.
You still wake up every day to a world filled with breathtaking sunrises
and natural phenomenon. You live every
day in a world where beautiful art of every type is created. You live in a world where every day you can
love someone with such a passionate intensity that you can feel it warm your
body. You live in a world where you can
laugh until your sides hurt and tears are streaming down your face.
Simply put, we all live in a world filled with fear and desperation
that is also filled with beauty and hope.
We walk a fine line every day between those two worlds, and there will
be times that we falter and step on the wrong side of that line.
For my own sake though, I know that I’ll live my life aware
of it all. I’ll keep my eye on the fears
and the misery, and I’ll help wherever I can.
Still, I will forever more value the beauty of my life over the fears of
the world.
“I believe that life
is a game, that life is a cruel joke, and that life is what happens when you're
alive and that you might as well lie back and enjoy it.”- Neil Gaiman
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