Yesterday we talked about music. I made the point to avoid music that has unhealthy or sad messages because it can and will affect you emotionally and could stop you in your quest. The same is true for all other types of media you may choose. The old computer adage “garbage in garbage out,” holds true for just about everything else in life.
I love movies but I know that a film like “Saving Private Ryan” is not going to do me any good if I am depressed. “Private Ryan” is not necessarily a woman’s film, so we can add “Steel Magnolias” to the list. Heavily violent and or movies where someone you really like dies at the end, just do nothing to lift you up and carry you thru a rough time period.
The same is also true of books. We live in such a cynical world. More and more books and authors portray that cynicism. Many novels that are published have really dark themes and many don’t actually encourage you much at all. I also love to read, and I am finding as I grow older, that I go further back for my reading material. I love the works of Charles Dickens, the books all had a point, but they are rich in beauty, humor and sometimes sadness. Coming forward JK Rowling did a wonderful job in her Harry Potter series she balanced good and evil, humor and sadness and good won in the end. As for The Twilight series, any book whose main character wants to become a vampire really should be given second thoughts. That’s like saying, “Tear my body apart and transplant my brain into another head. Sew me back up so I can be more like Frankenstein.”
Go after books whose messages are good. Go back in time and read Auntie Mame, and how many of you have read the books that are assigned only to childhood or the film version. “The Secret Garden” has a wonderful message for dieters and books like “The Wind in the Willows” teach us much about friendship. There’s even an intervention in the “The Wind in the Willows” Choose books and movies that will inspire you and make you laugh.
A couple of weeks ago a poll was taken of over a million people. “I Love Lucy” was voted the best TV show of all time. Not the best comedy but overall the best TV show of all time. When I am down, Lucy, in all her incarnations is truly the best medicine for me. I can watch her and no matter how bad I feel I will laugh, and once you have laughed, the evil spell of sadness is broken.
Garbage in Garbage Out, is not just about computers. It really affects every part of our lives. What we eat, what we entertain ourselves with and even the people we choose to hang out with all can come under that category. The Bible says to “Guard your heart.” This is something we must do in all areas of our lives, because when we guard our hearts, we guard everything about who we are and who we want to become.
