Good vs Bad

First up, a warning: I’m on my soap box and not feeling like getting off it any time soon! Just so you know.

A pet peeve of mine is the amount of bad news we’re subjected to on a daily basis. If you were somehow born into the world as an adult (that would give a whole new meaning to the term labour pain – ouch) and given the daily newspaper and 6 o’clock news as your first introduction to the planet, you’d be forgiven for thinking the world was wall to wall full of death, destruction and violence (and Britney Spears, but that’s another story). You’d also be forgiven for wanting to crawl back in from whence you came (ouch again).

I don’t watch the news anymore and I’ve changed my previous news-type Internet home page, as my small boycott against the continual and unrelenting bad news we’re fed. The only reason the media outlets feed us bad news is because we consume it. If there wasn’t a market for it, they wouldn’t sell it. The marketers should add “bad news sells” along with their “sex sells” adage.

Fair enough if you want to keep up to date with what’s going on in the world but be selective in what, how and the amount you subject yourself to (I find the Internet and print media the best ways to keep informed - you can be more selective in what you read). The truth is there is a lot of “bad” going on and I’m not suggesting we stick our heads in the sand and pretend it isn’t happening. What I am suggesting is that we (and the media outlets) take a look around and see the millions of things going on that are not just good but phenomenal. It’s easy to think there isn’t anything or anyone great out there because we never see it.

There is however, good news all around us. Case in point; we are lucky enough to have a local organic grocery store called The Natural Foodstore. Unless you were local to the area where we live it’s unlikely you would have ever heard of them and yet, they are a very positive force for the community. Apart from only offering organic produce and grocery items, they provide free information sessions, organize food hampers for families in need at Christmas, buy locally made where possible and donate money to The Sunshine Coast Environmental Council to combat plastic waste in our environment (and these are just the couple of things I’m aware of). This is one, very small but not insignificant example of good news out there that the public is unaware of. If you look around, I’m sure you’ll find examples of your own.

Let us all unite in this fight against bad news polluting our lounge rooms and our minds. Let us stand up for the promotion of all that is positive and good. I implore you citizens of the world, please stop consuming the news in its current form and turn back the tide of bad news obesity! Wow, sometimes I scare myself with how much I sound like a politician. Eww. Ok, I’m now officially off my soap box, for 5 minutes at least.

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