Before we dive into todays topic, Happy Birthday to the Greatest Country on Earth, our U.S.A.!!!

With that thought shouted out, we now move on to todays discussion.

What a capsule of time we have been experiencing the last several months, dear readers of Our Town and far beyond.

As I have said previously, in my humble opinion, the so-called computer driven age has good points and not so good points. The latter portion I will discuss today, wanting you to totally realize, the glass is more than half full regarding our modern age and all our complicated gadgets.

So, we were rocking along the first couple of months of 2020, displaying many strong economic indicators. Our national overall unemployment was at a 50-year low, inflation was being held in check, interest rates were very low, and the stock market was racing toward a 30,000 Dow Jones Industrial reading.

We occasionally heard of a strange, new respiratory virus from China, but this health issue didnt receive much early 2020 broadcast air/print coverage in our land of the free and home of the brave.

Its almost as if we were blind-sided by Covid-19 a couple of weeks into March; rapidly overrun with this villain bug, resulting in a worldwide pandemic. Wow! And Wow, again for effect!

Along with the American onslaught of the viral monster, came the avalanche of information via every possible way to stimulate our human brains. And stimulated they were, and they constantly continue to be overwhelmed if you allow the noise to gain access inside your head! What is the major product produced by this media overload?

Pure and simple, human ANXIETY!

Gosh, even the word anxious produces that dreaded emotion, anxiety.

Another major observation by your humble scribe is the following. For about a month, the calendar from mid-March/mid-April, our America seemed to be united in our opinions regarding this foreign viral invader. As a society, we appeared to all join hands in a circle, and sing, Kumbaya. Beginning about the second half of April, the so-called good will to all wheels began coming off our previously strong togetherness wagon. Coupled with the fact we have a national presidential election in four months, the criticism/noise practically everywhere is absolutely non-stop. Its almost like our society is continually watching the famous 1975 movie, One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest starring Jack Nicholson.

So, back to our push-button daily world I stated earlier; simply put, what is the major issue? Once again, in my mind, it can all be summed up to our present human behavior being FAR behind our worlds current technological advances. As individuals, we have not learned how to moderate all our instant electronic devices, and that in turn, has created massive confusion for our brains to apply logical reasoning.

A significant spin off this information storm, is our old friend, pure mental anxiety. Just when we think we have this unwanted feeling (anxiety) under our conscious control, we elect to push the electronic button AGAIN. Big mistake, of course, but like Pavlovs famous dogs, we continue to push and push and push the stimulation button, falsely thinking we are getting mentally fed.

Therefore, in summation, let me state once again, not everything is painted with the same brush, regarding our every minute reliance on instant information. In this great land on our nations birthday, we enjoy the freedom to choose when to push the electronic buttons.

Please choose wisely, and try to appreciate your non-anxious moments.

Robert Breedlove is an Oklahoma State University news-editorial journalism graduate, and a former newspaper (including News Press) reporter.

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TIME OUT: Signs of the times | Lifestyles | stwnewspress.com - Stillwater News Press