Perseverance vs. Paranoia

I was going to write a bit a perseverance tonight.  What it is to continue in the face of all odds.  In the face of failure.  In the face of messing up, and starting again.  But I was reading an article which started me thinking about what I call our "cultural paranoia." 

We've been trained to be paranoid.  The media and governing bodies tell us not to let our kids walk down the street on their own to a friend's house - they'll get abducted.  Not to let anyone be sad or depressed - they won't ever be able to cope.  Not to hug anyone or have physical contact - it's inappropriate and not therapeutic.

I find this flies in the face of both thousands of years of how we humans act, and in the face of research.  We walked down the street to a friends, and learned how to be independent and think for ourselves.  Maybe problem solve if we decided to go a different way.  We got sad, or depressed over the death of a loved one, and amazingly, we actually worked through our grief, and became both stronger and more sympathetic.  We got lots of hugs from family, friends, neighbours and teachers, and, as  research shows, became healthier mentally and physically.

Buying into the "cultural paranoia" makes us less healthy, less independent, and more depressed by teaching us not to do what is actually best for us.  But I think we all need to persevere in simply refusing to buy into it.  There is also the concept of what you focus on, you get.  The more the media focuses on the horrors, the more we get them.... So turn off the TV and news.  Send your kids to the neighbour's house.  Cry with a friend, laugh with a friend, and make sure you give and get lots of hugs!