What a fool believes, he sees - sing it

Eyes Wide Open

When I read something that resonates with me, I make a note of it.  Unfortunately, I don't always write the reference so while I can't claim this next little gem, I also can't give credit where it is due.  However, this does not detract from the importance of the statement.

 "You can't just open your eyes a little bit if you want to see the truth, you have to open them all the way".  Think about this for a minute.

How many times do we react to the headlines we read?  The two minute story reported on the news?  The email forwarded to our inbox?  Do we stop for one minute to question the validity of the news we are hearing?  Or...is this the news we want, need, expect to hear so we buy it at face value and forward it on, proclaim it as truth, hop on the band wagon of indignation?  Have we become so gullible that the media can now sell us whatever story they are peddling at any given moment?

IMHO (for those of you not savvy to the acronyms tossed loosely about these days, that stands for "In my humble opinion") I would say that a VERY large percentage of Americans are guilty of "buying" whatever is put out for human consumption on a daily basis...depending on where their bias falls.  I have been guilty of it myself in a past closer to the present than I care to think about.  But only on those things that I wanted to believe.  .

And isn't that how we all are?  Since I have become aware of what a slippery slope we can slide down when we play that game of  "storytelling" I have become hypersensitive to watching- not just what the media is putting out there - but the adults that I had previously perceived as being among my more intelligent colleagues, friends..dare I say family, who persist in forwarding articles with half- truths, analogies with less than stellar comparisons to the articles in question which clearly show their preference, etc.  I think you get the drift.  We have become a country that hops on board the train that makes the most noise. And let's face it, the best lies all contain a piece of the truth.

It's interesting to me that we say we live in a country where every person is afforded the opportunity of a fair trial.  Yes, I know of many instances where our justice system has failed and it will continue to be less than perfect.  But when we call for justice, and then we don't like the answer the justice system gives us (and I am not citing any specific case...there have been so many), we all are CERTAIN that justice has not been served.  Now, if we like the answer, then it has been a good day.  
We act as if we are privy to ALL the facts, in every instance that is reported in the media.  Folks, this is simply not true.  Everything that is reported (whether it is far to the left, right or smack down the middle) has a bias.  Just like we do.  And everything reported will reflect that bias.  We will never know everything about any given circumstance UNLESS WE ARE INTIMATELY INVOLVED.

Yet we continue to allow ourselves to be caught up in a frenzy and led like lambs to the slaughter on so many issues that if we would just take a minute and do our own research (and that involves more than headline reaction) we might be able to make an informed opinion and go from there.

So, my commitment going forward is to Open My Eyes....ALL THE WAY before I state anything as gospel.  And while I don't know everything about everything, I do recall that Freedom of Speech allows for all of us to have an opinion.  There are no stipulations that it must be the POPULAR or even the politically correct opinion.

Until next time,
#Iseeyou
#eyeswideopen

your pal,
Kari