When you see those words flashing across your television screen, do you flinch, too?

BREAKING NEWS—Whenever I see it now, I know it’s going to be yet, one more reminder that another person, place, or thing in the world is broken or torn in tragic ways.

A friend of mine echoed what many of us have felt—”It makes me feel so awful, I just don’t want to turn the TV on, any more—-because there is nothing I can do.”

There are actually three parts to her statement.  Two are true.  One, isn’t at all.

1.  It makes me feel so awful—–TRUE. There is no way not to look at what’s happening in Japan, as well as other places in the world, without feeling tremendous empathy and sympathy for all those who are displaced and suffering unimagineable loss. 

EVEN MORE TRUE.  But the other side of sad is glad—-Use this time to dip into the deep well of gratitude for the life you are living right now, even with it’s flaws and flap-doodles. Be glad you are alive.

2.  I just don’t want to turn on the TV on, any more—-TRUE.  There’s not much to watch is there?  When did “entertainment” start to center around morgues and medical examiners? 

EVEN MORE TRUE.  What if a few million people said, “Enough.  No more sensationalism.  No more, “If it bleeds, it leads.”  What if we said, “Just tell us the truth—don’t manufacture ‘reality’”.  And, what if, we actually did turn the TV off, more often?  What would we really miss?

3.  There is nothing I can do—-FALSE.  As you can see all ready, from #1 and #2, there are things we can do in an instant.  The change of a thought, the flip of a switch—both are doing something.  I have found the best way to stop feeling helpless, is to help someone.

Yes, you can send money to the RED CROSS for those in Japan, AND, what if you found ways to help someone next door? 

Recently, I read a story about a woman who got up every day to put all her neighbor’s newspapers within arm’s reach of their front door.  She was up early every day anyway—because she could not sleep.  You see, loneliness caved in on her at times, after the death of her husband.  One simple act of kindness, envisioning the tiny speck of comfort she was creating to start the day for others, took her right out of helpless and into helping.

When breaking news, breaks your heart……it’s already cracked wide open….find a way to help.