The tragic Navy Yard shooting yesterday brought a few items up for me (that’s where I worked for 9 years before I retired):

1. I think that people seem to have become immune (or maybe numb/anesthetized) to events like this and that bothers me.
   • It first struck me last week when the news sites had very very little coverage of 9/11. People where I work (on an Army base even) didn’t even bother to observe the moment of silence – not one single moment. That disgusted me.
   • Yesterday as I was driving home there was a talk show (another thing I normally pay no attention to fortunately) and the guy’s primary concern was whether the news folks in Texas should be talking more about the shooting or the fact that we finally got rain. That is really pathetic. He was not even concerned about all the flooding in Colorado. I know we are in the midst of a big drought here but come on – what are the important things in life?
   • Almost none of my Facebook friends even acknowledged the shooting. That made me wonder about my friends. It was all about running and internet business and food and whatever else they normally posted about. Nothing different. Funny that the runners were “all over” the Boston Marathon Bombing but this event seemed “unimportant” to everyone.
2. I remembered why I don’t watch the news last night. It’s NOT news. It’s a bunch of opinions and slurs and stirring everyone up to be afraid.  Even the one good news story (the raising of the Concordia ship) was minimally covered and they emphasized the cost and problems – not the fact that this is the first time this has been done and how it will help lead the way for other salvage operations. The news is supposed to report the facts. I suppose that if they did that, there would be no material for all the time they have to fill. Imagine if they had to fill a full 24 hours every single day with just facts! What a challenge that would be for them. Because I was stationed at the Navy Yard I am somewhat qualified to render an opinion about some of what they reported as “facts”.  These were not facts, they were misinterpretations, they were statements by people who were willing to go on the radio to say stupid, inciteful things just to get some acknowledgement. I remembered why I don’t watch the news.
3. People all have their stories and they carry them around like a gunny sack of rocks.

If you just concentrated on the facts that occurred yesterday you would be able to make an informed opinion on what happened – if an opinion was/is even required. What are the facts? This man was formerly in the Navy; he worked as a subcontractor and had access to the Navy Yard as a subcontractor; He gained entry to this particular building carrying at least 1 weapon if not more; he opened fire and killed 12 people and wounded several others; he died during this event.

There are more facts but other than for the law enforcement investigators, what difference do they make to you or me? Ok, maybe we “need” to know if it was an act of terrorism and if so, are there others out there that could be planning other events. I’m not sure I “need” to know that as opposed to needing to know if they found out positively that there was other potential danger. Do I need to know about his background and about him working at a restaurant etc? Heck no. What import does that have for me? Not a bit. So why should I clutter up my mind and my thoughts and feelings with all the emotional reporting that is going on about this. These folks are not expressing sorrow and desire to help the families and other victims (those that were frightened at being shot at etc). They are trying to stir people up and get them going – this time it’s once more about gun control. It’s to perpetuate fear. I think people are good enough at creating and living their fears without the help of the media magnifying those fears. I also heard these same news people reporting that if the government shut down in October then in a couple of weeks the US wouldn’t be able to pay it’s bills and would be “broken”.  They snuck that in but you know that’s another fear generating story they are implanting in us.

What stories are you carrying around? I talked about this last week or the week before.  Can you change your past (and even present) stories into “feel good” (or maybe even neutral) stories instead of the bad news stories we make them. Bad things happen but what we feel about them is what counts.  We can replay an event, see it as just a series of facts (without applying/feeling the emotions) and have it be a part of our past – without negative influence. What types of good things can you pull out of that experience once you extract the negative emotions? What have you learned? How has your life changed and how can you change it even more in a positive way.

I’m not discounting how we are affected by events and situations but it’s how we respond and later relive that has to be changed. If you don’t work at changing your feelings about those things, you will continue to be miserable and you will continue to attract more of the same.  We are not taught to “spin” our stories in a positive direction. We are just taught to tell them. Often we go into great detail so that we can tell an “interesting story”.  Consider not even telling your story. Allow it to dissipate in power. Or see if you can write it out or talk it out putting the positive spin on it. Start small and work your way up. It’s a new habit but one that will change your life!

All those that think I went on a rant are free to comment. You are right, it is a rant but there’s also an important metaphysical lesson here if you want to attract more good things in your life.

Terrie