Pay Attention

I'm a media junkie.

Now, I don't sacrifice my valuable time to overdose, but at the same time, I do believe that in order to have truly informed opinions, I need to see things from all angles - particularly because everything is related.

In the last two days, for example, I've followed everything from the Lehmen Brothers' collapse, the Dallas/Philly game, the fact that the Liberals themselves may be losing faith in Dion, Jennifer Lopez running a triathlon, and Sarah Palin's politics.

And you know why? Because there is a lesson in everything, though you sometimes have to dig a little deeper.

A good example of this is Ms. Palin. Now, some people may ask why I care, given that it's the United States election and not Canada's... and to those people, I say get your head out of the sand (actually, I'd likely be a little more colorful in saying it, but not here...). If you think that what happens in the US isn't going to have an effect in Canada, then you're sadly unaware of the real world. Furthermore - you should really read a bit on this unknown vice-presidential candidate to get a better idea about the possible scenarios that could play out down there... in fact, there was one fact in particular that jumped off the page at me.

The first time she travelled outside the United States was in 2007.
Think about that. Given John McCain's age, there's a 1 in 3 chance he doesn't survive his term in office - which means that there's a 1 in 3 chance that the person who may wind up running one of (if not the most) powerful countries in the world - didn't even leave the country until last year. What kind of perspective can she have? How can she possibly make decisions on a global scale, with such a limited amount of experience?

I'm not going to get back on my soapbox - I've been there enough the last few weeks. All I ask is that you take this real world example, consider the message it sends... and then ask yourself if you have ever done the same sort of thing on your own scale?

~Guy