Yet, we never protect ourselves from the bad news we see on television, the horrible reports we read in the newspaper. What we see on the nightly news is nothing like what we see in our own neighborhoods. The new media presents a grossly-distorted picture, an anomaly.
And, unfortunately, that picture of 'America, the Ugly' is every bit as contagious and as damaging as those tuberculosis germs.
Poet and novelist Maya Angelou went so far as to call negativity, 'poison.' She was vigilant in protecting herself from negative conversation. If she heard what she called 'a poisonous comment,' she quickly said 'sayonara' and didn't feel a bit guilty about it. If anyone started in at her home, she asked them to leave.
'If you allow it (negativity) to perch in your house, in your mind, in your life, it can take you over. So when rude or cruel things are said, I say, 'Take it all out of my house.' Those negative words climb into the wood and into the furniture and the next thing they'll be on my skin,' she said."
-Pam Grout
MAB: Thanks again for visiting with us, Pam, I'm looking forward to talking with you about your new book, soon!
PG: Thank you!
Pam Grout's website is here and her Facebook page is here.
It's a good time to take some advice from Stevie Wonder - a dose of "positivity" certainly can have productive effects.
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