9/11 and Thinking Well

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Ok, I am officially ready to potentially make a few people mad. But hey, it's my blog right? I'm glad you agree.

No adult around will not recall exactly where they were and what they were doing when the 9/11 catastrophe occurred. We'll always recall how that day "changed everything". I for one recall becoming addicted to the news, and eventually in the following years addicted to political news and the talking heads that we are all so familiar with these days.

During this time I've seen more divisiveness in our country than I can ever recall in my 20+ years of adulthood. It's all over the TV and radio daily. People I know spend hours reading political blogs, watching political TV, listening to political radio. Again, until about a year or two ago, I did the same, so I know of what I speak.

Let me be honest here. During that time in my life, I found myself with a large degree of anger and frustration built up inside of me. I found myself so wrapped up in the political news world that I began developing feelings of dislike for those of opposing views. Stay with me here, I am just being honest about a time period in my life. I found myself with an "us vs. them" mentality. Not exactly healthy thinking, right?

But eventually I recalled what I had learned in the 90's about being careful what I allowed into my brain on a regular basis. I recall being taught in more than one venue to avoid spending too much time watching/listening to the news as it was so negative, and never without what we now call "spin". I also began noticing the "us vs. them" mentality displayed on talk shows everywhere and I recall thinking back to a time when it wasn't so, a time that seemed so far back, but it really wasn't that long ago. I began recognizing so many of the political news folks were all about the "win" for their side, not about seeing a possible compromise, or even trying to see the other side.

It was then that I realized how unhealthy it was to be so caught up in the whole game. Now, in retrospect, I see the lack of "Thinking Well" that occurs in politics, and in our minds when we become too wrapped up in it. I look back on 9/11 and I am still amazed at how not thinking well led a handful of people, who had listened for too long to the rhetoric of some other non "thinking well" people, and agreed to hijack planes and eventually took the lives of thousands of innocent people. I can see how not thinking well led many to have vile hatred for the people of the religion whose people perpetrated the act. Trust me, I have no respect for those that choose to commit acts of terror, but I know in my heart that hatred for them is an unwell way of thinking.

That same emotion of hatred now has our country divided by and caught up in the "us vs. them" mentality. For nothing more than a letter that stands behind a name (D or R) a plethora of negative emotions and actions are brought forth. That kind of thinking is a non-starter for unity and for the health and well being of our country. I am saddened by it, and wish that my children could experience some of the days where it wasn't so rampant.

I am not saying that I don't have views, or that I walk the line on every issue. I am saying that the emotions that are brought out by this whole game are a serious problem that will affect the future of our country for generations to come if it is not changed. And to call it a "game" is a misnomer. Life is not a trial run, not a dress rehearsal. This is the real deal, and this "game", if it continues, will undoubtedly have real and serious consequences in our future, and it probably has already had said consequences.

On the other hand, thinking well, realizing we are all on the same planet, that maybe some other views may warrant a second look, that we truly are on the same team, can have real and everlasting positive consequences for our future, and for the future of our kids. On this anniversary of a very sad day in the history of this great nation, and of this planet, take some time to step back and see if you are caught up in some of this divisiveness. It can't hurt.

Until next time, "Be Well".

Dr. B