Dark Shadows

Sometimes I want to be like an ostrich, stick my head in the sand and ignore the world around me.

Not sure why, but it seems right now there are so many dark shadows around me, that I want to just scream.  A very close friend is struggling with issues that could make or break her marriage.  Granddaughter and family struggling with her disease and the monetary fallout from that.  Cousins dealing on a daily basis with heartache and medical issues.  Other friends dealing with family members murdered, or sick, or dying or whatever.  Students being so ugly to each other, and discipline issues multiplying by the tens!  Dependence and medical issues in my own home that sometimes make me feel like I am suffocating. 

You can't pick up the paper without feeling like someone has slammed you in the head after you read all of the negative, horrible things going on in our world.

Your turn on the TV news, and it is a repeat of the paper.  How many people got shot or murdered!  How many people have been hurt in some way.  How many countries are in complete and total chaos and anarchy.  How many countries with children dying by the hundreds and thousands each day from hunger or war.  How many soldiers shot in Afghanistan.  How many riots and protests against our soldiers in Afghanistan.  Apologies to countries that we have no buisness apologizing to!  It just seems to go on and on.

After awhile, it becomes a part of your soul.  The dark shadows that play out in life every day - either personal or worldwide just get into you, and begin to throw shadows on every aspect of your life.  You begin to wonder if the US will ever get back to the robust, great nation it once was.  You wonder if soldiers will come home maimed, hurt and emotionally traumatized for the rest of their life.  You even wonder if there are any marriages that will make it.   You start feeling depressed and angry, and then helpless because there really isn't anything you can do to fix it all.

I have no answers - only more questions.  I do know that I am going to cancel my newspaper, and quit watching the news except for the weather.  It seems like I am avoiding real life, but I am protecting my soul.  Whether I know what is going on in the world or not, it is still going to happen with or without me.  So I protect myself, help my friends and family and cousins as best I can by being there so they can vent, or we can talk or whatever - and maybe, just maybe, some of the dark shadows won't be quite so dark anymore.

"The best way to escape from a problem is to solve it."

"It is during our darkest moments that we must focus to see the light." -Taylor Benson

Peace to everyone during these dark shadow times.