A personal essay about the importance of balancing the positive and negative.
Balance is the force that holds this world together. Even the slightest tilt in either direction could render consequences of catastrophic proportions. For that reason, every side has an opposite, a stimulus of stability, to ensure that things work the way they should. For negative occurrences, there are positive ones that emerge, restoring the natural order of things. That is critical when dealing with affairs that touch our lives.
News affects us in many ways. It touches our hearts; it sparks our brainwaves; it fuels our emotions. In essence, news taps in to who we are, ultimately changing who we might have been otherwise. After all, it is only human nature to react to things we hear, both good and bad. That is why we must actively seek ways to balance the onslaught of news we receive on a daily basis.
First of all, news affects the way we think. Just one cover story at the top of a broadcast can trigger mass hysteria, dragging fear and doom into millions of homes worldwide. As a result, people have become less trusting of others they meet in the streets or sit next to on airplanes and buses. "You just never know" has become the new disguise for prejudice. Neighborliness, hospitality, and goodwill are gradually being replaced by media-driven madness.
Secondly, news affects the way we act. More than ever, people are locking their doors, virtually becoming prisoners in their own homes, protecting themselves with guns and pepper spray. Youth and elderly alike are taking self-defense classes and filling up the shooting ranges in order to learn how to hit where it hurts. And young black males flee at the first sight of police – even when they haven’t done anything against the law.
Finally, news affects the way we react. We cry at the dismal sight of thousands left homeless in the wake of natural disasters. We cringe at the sight of the elderly and homeless being ruthlessly bludgeoned to a pulp by thugs. We smile when we see pictures of relief efforts taking place all over the world. We bow our heads in prayer as snapshots of our troops, dead and alive, grace the airwaves and the front pages.
No matter which, good or bad, news is as much a part of our lives as the air we breathe. And like the air, we take it in. But it’s how we let it out that is paramount to our survival. It is important that we find our balance to be sure we remain objective in this skewed world.