Time to rise above endless waves of misery

I was talking to a friend of the family over the weekend about life in Ireland — a perspective informed by almost 80 years living here, with a number of wise insights provided.

The first takeaway was that life had, in balance, been good when measured by social interaction, personal safety and healthcare.

The second was a sense of perspective about our current circumstances which, in this person’s opinion, argues that living today stacks up well against prior decades.

This latter point is driven by a number of factors that we tend to glaze over when frothing at the mouth about one economic catastrophe or another.

They include:

n the average person in Ireland and in the western world lives longer than ever in history;

nhealthcare solutions and pharmaceuticals have advanced to unprecedented levels in dealing with many conditions and diseases; n transport is dramatically different and more accessible that it was 50 years ago, with cars, trains, aeroplanes and ferries now accessible by average and low income earners. That was not a given many moons ago.

n access to information, insight and analysis have been secured at ever lower costs, giving all citizens multiple sources of information for any decisions or actions they desire, and;

ncommunication methods have grown exponentially, allowing families and friends to communicate effortlessly faster and over greater areas at lower costs than ever before.

Add in to this the not inconsiderable fact that the vast majority of irish people can eat well and have ordinary amenities such as energy and water.

It may be a laugh to think that is relevant if you are young, but anyone over 60 knows that food shortages and people walking to school in their bare feet is not a fiction in Irish history.

I was thinking about this while listening to another weekend of Irish media and, in particular, radio.

Am I the only one who has grown utterly tired of the endless wave after wave of misery that now defines national chat shows?

If you take a slice of these broadcasts and remove any historical contexts, it is arguable that the world is comprised of multiple threats to our very being. Inside Ireland the place is, according to this narrative, populated by corrupted and ruinous leaders in politics, business and the Church.

Outside of Ireland we are close to either World War 3 or a planetary catastrophe caused by the climate.

If you are a consumer of this perspective, then you can wallow in hours of groupthink where a variety of contributors back up and accentuate the underlying fears humans always have.

To spice the whole thing up you can also have a sprinkling of exchanges about the next global health crisis that threatens to engulf us all at a sneeze.

Great, isn’t it. When I’m overwhelmed by a torrent of bad news like this, I tend to extricate myself from the media orbit and focus on simpler and more honest activities.

A walk on a warm summer’s evening through a local forest where the public has free access is one experience that alters my mood. Tea and cakes with friends and relatives is another.

These incredibly mundane actions will not attract shock jock radio coverage and I won’t be invited on to any radio panel to discuss the merits of simple enjoyment.

The brilliant author Damien Enright likes to quote the poet Patrick Kavanagh and one of those — “Ordinary things wear lovely wings” — captures the spirit of this approach to life. Do not let supposed objective media diatribes, which are usually driven by commercial agendas where negative news sells best, sour your views on Ireland.

My 80-year-old friend can fill you in on the real facts of life instead.