Originally posted at Writeindependent.org on December 11, 2011
I admit it: comedy makes me feel good. And to that end, I seek it out, over other forms of entertainment like sports or NASCAR, or hunting.
I can only wish I had the wit of Tina Fey who seems to be a bottomless pit of comedy, or the ease of somebody like Andy Samberg who makes me giddy just by looking at him.
I admit: I don’t watch much television. And I rarely, if ever, watch the news programs. I just don’t have the time. I’m trying to run a business with a fair amount of employees, and I take care of a special needs daughter, and I have friends who take precedence over television.
Some news is just so sad, I avoid it because it puts me into a negative state of mind. I consistently watch the Daily Show or Colbert Report because then I can handle the “news.” Not that it’s real, mind you. It’s fake, and so I take it with a grain of salt.
But then, I take everything with a grain of salt. I don’t believe anything I read or see on TV until I’ve checked and re-checked the sources, if I even have time. Remember the Serenity Prayer:
God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.
I live by those words. I learned about the tsunami in Japan before almost anyone else in California, because I just happened to be up at 4:00 in the morning and on my computer. I don’t live in the dark. Instead, I choose to be informed about the things that most interest me, and I do serious research when the need arises. I self-educate, and I don’t expect that television news programs could improve on this method.
I don’t pretend to know everything, and when people ask me a question, I would rather tell them “I don’t know” than try to bluff my way through. I know a lot about sustainable practices in gardening, and about my daughter’s ADD, specific to her and her alone. When I need help finding something out, I know how to find the right people.
This is the mark of a resilient person: someone who knows how to ask for help when they need it. No one can do a major thing alone.