A lot of things have happened over the past few months. Maybe too many things, one on top of the other, which has resulted in us feeling "uh,oh - this is going just like Zimbabwe". Suddenly everybody is researching property in Perth !
I mean we've all read all sorts of kak about Jacob Zuma, The Health Minister, Jackie Selebi, Bob Mugabe, Crime, Eskom, Petrol, Food Costs, Bafana Bafana, The Arms Scandal, Schabir Shaik, Rising Interest Rates, Tony Yengeni and even Steve Hofmeyer's perforated poephol. And of course the endless detailed stories of various rapes, murders and hijackings. And where is it ?
EVERYWHERE !!
It's on every news bulletin, on every website, in every magazine and every newspaper. You can't help but read it, see the headlines, hear the rumours. It's everywhere ! It's like I was slowly being brainwashed. And what's worse - I started to get that naar feeling in my gut. And let me tell you it feels kak !
On the 4th May I read the Sunday Times interview with our new Springbok Rugby Coach. (He hasn't done anything yet, but I am really starting to like this oke - by the way!) He said ....The local media thrive on negativity. They have nothing good to say about their country. If there is something bad about this country, the local media will break a leg to be the first to write about it. They're a bunch of negative people who live in a world of their own, and are merely there to earn a living and not make South Africa a better place"
Do yourself a favour - and read his statement again. He hit the nail on the head. Our journalists are a sorry bunch of scumbags. They twist and distort any story to sensationalize it as much as possible. And all so that they can sell their product - you miserable bunch of arsewipes !
Don't get me wrong. There are problems here. Yes, we do have high crime stats, it is becoming more and more expensive to live. But hey, they have problems overseas as well. It's true, our government are a sorry bunch. Not worth a vote. But my point is that we are not hearing about anything else. Many ordinary people are busy doing extremely good things every day - but none of it is newsworthy. Now here's a truth - there are about 6,6 billion people on our planet. According to WHO there are about 56 million deaths per year. Which means that roughly 153 400 people die every single day. With 153 400 deaths per day it really wouldn't be too difficult to find disasters, accidents, catastrophes, murders, muggings and general mayhem to write about - would there ? It's pretty easy actually.
And during the same time period about 350 000 beautiful, miraculous, perfect, pure, happy, untainted precious babies begin their journey on this planet. And do journalists write about this ? Of course not. But if a six-month-old baby is stabbed to death you'll never stop hearing about it. The fact is that bad news sells best.
I have become sick and tired of the continued obsessive focus of the media with everything that is negative. I'm all in for free press - but really this has gone way overboard. The media have gone beyond the simple task of reporting on what is happening. They are now CAUSING some of it by their own actions. The media have helped to perpetuate a cycle of violence and destruction. The media poephol's need to cheer up and get a life or piss off and get another job. The media really need to seriously stop with their sensationalism and scandal. They need to start doing their job more creatively and seek out and give headline space to the good things that are going on here in South Africa. Trust me - it's there.
Let's take last Sundays' newspaper. Taking out the sports pages - and only focusing on the front nine pages. (which is really what makes up the paper these days) - it only involved 280 people. That is 0.00058% of our population.
This is not the first time there's been doom and gloom. Every few years the same thing happens. We experience massive economic growth, everyone is optimistic and buying Nescafe Gold, holiday homes and Mercs. The positivity gets ahead of itself and the economy overheats, and then the panic sets in because the economy seems to be collapsing, when in fact it's simply making an adjustment back to a resonable level.
It happened in 1989, when South Africa defaulted on it's international loans and the stock market and the rand crashed, it happened in 1994 when the ANC took power and everyone thought war would break out, it happened in 1998 when interest rates hit 25% and you couldn't give your house away and it happened in 2001 when 2 Boeings flew into the tallest buildings in New York.
On each of those occassions everyone thought it was the end of the world and there was no light in sight. And on each occassion, the world did not actually come to an end. It recovered and in fact things continued to get better. Make sure that you take a mental note of what is happening right now, because it will happen again and again and again. If you don't recognize the symptoms, you'll be suckered into the same negativity, and forget to look for the opportunities.
It's easy to be negative. Subconsciously, it's just plain easier to do. Why don't the media dedicate more time to the real facts of our country ? The fact is that we are in better financial shape now than we were 20 years ago. The fact is that Johannesburg is the worlds largest man made forest. And what about the corruption free achievements of the vast majority of our public officials. You know why ? Because good news is soooo
b-o-r-i-n-g.
South Africa still has the best weather in the world. We're lucky enough to possess a huge chunk of the world's resources, i.e: gold, platinum, coal, iron. 8% of the world's silicone is mined right here in Mpumalanga - did you know that ? The growth in India and China will continue and so will their demand for our resources. Our government has already embarked on massive infrastructural projects (some of them a bit late - like electricity). These projects will pump large sums of money into our economy.
Every day about 48 million South Africans wake up, hopefully brush their teeth and get on with their lives. Many of us perform little acts of respect, compassion and kindness each and every day. And that's what got me thinking. I stopped reading the newspapers. I stopped watching the news on TV. I stopped listening to the news on the car radio. I changed my website front page. And I stopped listening to negative people with all their chirps and kak. As a result I stopped focussing on what was going wrong in my life.
I took the time to wake up a little earlier - drink some rooibos and watch the sunrise. Fortunately, where I live I can see the sun rise over the sea. Some of you oke's may not be so fortunate. I began to read about the good that is going on in South Africa. Do yourself a favour and visit
www.sagoodnews.co.za. I started reading non-fiction again. The TV remains off while we eat and conversation has been stimulated. I have started the whole gym thing again. I started watching the National Geographic and Discovery channels. I take the time to walk out in my garden (taking care to miss the rottweilers landmines). Hell, I have even started walking on the beach again - something I haven't done in years. Fact is that I have started living again - from the inside out.
Fact is you can't change your thinking in order to improve your behaviour. You need to change your behaviour in order to improve your thinking. So if you, like me, are feeling anxious, concerned, depressed or just plain gatvol in general - why not try changing your behaviour and DOING something different from today.
Visit the
sagoodnews.co.za website often
Get into nature parks as often as you can
Walk barefoot on your lawn or on the beach
Watch the sun rise or set
Play your favourite music - especially when the news comes on
Find out and speak about all the good that is going on
Take a mental note of everything you need to be grateful for
Read an inspiring book - Lance Armstrong's books come to mind
Give that taxi in front of you a gap
Drink herbal tea in the mornings
And don't let the media infuence your mind. Next time you're standing in the Woolies que buying those choc balls that you are going to scoff all on your own - don't buy any of the gossip mags or newspapers they so coveniently position by the tills.
2008 will be a tough year. But this is also the year where opportunities can be seized. While everybody else is whining and moaning, get yourself onto the front seat of the inevitable boom that we will experience in the latter part of 2009 and the years beyond that.
Ignore the media and their doomsday forecasts. Install a timer on your geyser, go back to single ply paper and drink Ricoffee for a couple of months.
Cheers ..............
