Never, in my youth, would I have believed that the media would become so powerful in the lives of people everywhere.  News, advertisements of all kinds, music, television, movies, magazines, the internet, telephones, photos and billboards ubiquitously crowd our consciousness every minute of our waking hours.

The amount of money spent on these enterprises is almost impossible to measure.  And their influence is felt in every aspect of our lives.  Unless a person is removed by religious beliefs or culture, it has a prominent place in the daily lives of most people.

I have concerns about this regarding our youth for two main reasons.  First of all, they are the part of the population that is most vulnerable to propaganda because of their lack of life experience and they may not have enough adult involvement to explain the motives of advertising.  Secondly, they want to belong and are highly influenced by what their peers think.

Even adults have trouble with the consequences of advertising, as is evidenced by ever-growing consumerism and proliferation of credit card debt.  Many people live beyond their means, and as the debt piles up, the credit companies flourish.

I realize that I am stating the obvious, but I sometimes think that we ignore the obvious and live in a reality of our own making.  It’s easier to do this than to face the facts.  The media effectively controls many aspects of the financial world, even when we choose to live within our means.  It is just too extensive.

Lastly, my biggest worry about advertising is that it has a profound effect on the way we see ourselves.  We are fed a constant diet of what we don’t have and how it would be different if only we bought this or that.  It is an ideology of a culture of lack as opposed to a culture of abundance.

Actually, we do have a choice about this, but can feel powerless to think and feel for ourselves when there are so many other entities vying for our attention. The brainwashing is so massive as to wear one’s self out trying to fight it.  But fight it we must, if we intend to be people who live life on our own terms, and not according to the media and their sponsors.  Advertisers have no interest in you other than to separate you from your hard-earned income.  As for me, I refuse to listen to those voices that are not concerned about me and do not have my best interests at heart.

Have you ever noticed how a person can laugh and it makes you want to join in the fun?  You can just overhear people laughing and it makes you smile.  But if it continues, you will find yourself laughing along, even if you don’t know why they are laughing?  That’s the power of laughter.

I have witnessed on video, and real life how just one person laughing alone in close proximity to other people will eventually have everyone laughing even though none of them know what it is about.  Maybe we could start to do this randomly once in awhile.  I think I may try it with a friend sometime.  And then if it works, I could do it alone and feel more confident.  It takes guts to do this on purpose.

And what a difference it makes in you when you can laugh instead of being down in the dumps.  But it can be tricky, because sometimes we want to hold on to the bad feelings.  I don’t know why we do this, but I have been there before.

I remember one time, after having foot surgery, I stayed at my mom’s house and used her hospital bed to keep my leg up and get around better because her house is one-story, with no steps to deal with.  We were in the same room and I was already asleep.  My mom started laughing in the middle of the night and I woke up.  She was laughing so hard that I started laughing too.  We just keep laughing harder and harder and I kept trying to ask her why we were laughing.

She couldn’t stop laughing enough to tell me why, and so we just kept on laughing until it started to hurt.  Finally, she calmed down and was able to tell me why she was laughing, and we laughed some more.  She had been in her recliner and hadn’t been able to fall asleep when she had thought about something funny that had happened in the past, and it just brought back the funny memory.  Since I was there, it made me laugh too, because I couldn’t help myself.  I just got pulled into the hilarity.

This has happened to me many times.  I am really susceptible to this phenomenon and I am so happy about this, and thankful.  Even in the midst of sorrow, the sound of laughter can make one feel better. I think that laughter is one of the many gifts that God gives us.  It is an antidote to a bad mood and it raises our quality of life by its very existence.

I think that I will try a “laughing in public” experiment soon.  It will be worth a laugh to me even though I am apprehensive about whether or not it I will pull it off, because there’s a very good chance that it will.

I was born into a generous family.  My parents are generous people  When I was growing up, they were generous with their love for each other and for me and my brother.  They were also generous in many other ways.  It is easy to understand what it is to be generous when you grow up with it flowing all around you.

There are so many actions that show generosity.  One can be generous with money and things.  On a deeper level, one can be generous with time and attention. These are all sorely needed in our society.  But most of all, you and I can be generous with love and affection, as I learned from my parents.

The best thing about generosity is the feeling attached to it.  If something is given freely, which is what generosity requires, the very act of it is as good for you as the one who receives it.  It is beneficial to both parties.  It is a win-win situation.

I think the reason that generosity is not employed by everyone, is that it was not felt or demonstrated in the first years of one’s life.  Early childhood experiences have far-reaching effects on a person’s emotional development.

That’s why an atmosphere of love being freely given is so important in infancy.  It dramatically influences one’s view of the world and sets the stage for lifelong attitudes.  When we are the recipients of good in our lives, then it is easier to be a giver to others.  I also think that when one has been given much, much should be given, in turn, to others.

All it takes for one to be generous is to be willing and open to giving of oneself.  That attitude alone fosters an internal environment of positive energy.  And soon, the opportunities to give will begin to appear in your life.  If you act upon them, they will become generous actions.  It is impossible to stop the flow of generosity if you surrender yourself to these feelings.  It can almost be addictive.  It is the reason some people choose lives of ministry.

Although the rewards are extremely fulfilling, it does require the risk of being rejected.  But as long as you can see that the act of giving is important, whether or not it is received, you will not be disappointed.   And it is always a very good thing.

Several months ago, my husband and I were the waiting room at our doctor’s office.  As we looked around us, we became aware of the fact that we, with the exception of the staff behind the front desk, were the only ones that were not using some kind of electronic devices.  We looked at each other and shook our heads.

All around the room, people were involved with their cell phones, computers, tablets, iPods, or games.  Everyone, including a two-year-old and an elderly gentleman was looking at something that took them away from the people around them.  One family had six children, and each person was in their own little world.

The media often enters our lives, unobtrusively, through our electronics.  We hardly realize it when it happens.  The addiction to electronics has opened a window that never closes.  And it is  nearly impossible to separate ourselves from its influence.

For nearly a century, American life has been affected by advertising in newspapers, radio and magazines, increasing exponentially over the years to include billboards, television and the internet.  Virtually, everywhere in our society, people have become consumers of products, ideas, beliefs, and even their own self-images based on what the media says.  It is a profoundly ubiquitous factor in our daily lives.

The effects of this phenomenon is especially dramatic in young people who are not savvy to the ways in which their lives are being manipulated.  Some of the results of this have caused the suicide rate to spike, with cyber-bullying being only one of the many causes.   Other negative effects include: eating disorders, self-harming behaviors, extreme depression and other debilitating conditions.

It is extremely important to many teens to have the latest cell phone and multiple pairs of expensive athletic shoes.  Why are these possessions so important?  The media has dictated what teens should want, have, and therefore, need just in order to be “good enough.”  Ownership makes one worthy of notice, attention, and the message goes deeper, even love.

Desperate to be accepted, kids are easy prey to the ploys of this brainwashing, all through advertising.  More has to be done to educate our youngsters about the traps they are falling into, that just because these influences are a huge part of their world, it doesn’t mean that their messages are true.  If we can find ways to change the tide of this phenomenon, we will reap the benefits of a society that judges things from a perspective that takes in information, but does not allow itself to be told what to think or do.  In fact, people of all ages need to remember this.

There is no excuse for being rude.  Being indignant for a good reason can even be acceptable, but rudeness has a nasty attitude attached to it.  It shouldn’t be tolerated.  I have observed rudeness in young people more today than I ever remember it my lifetime.  I think that it may be a result of the “me generation” gone wrong.  “Looking out for number one,” has brought out an extreme influx of self-involvement that threatens to tear us apart.  If life continues in this way, the situation will only grow more vitriolic.  And what we need more than ever is an attitude of cooperation and awareness of others’ wants and needs.

So what do we do?  Well, consequences for this behavior would be a good start.  Making amends for one’s bad behavior is another appropriate response.  I know that for me personally, when I realize that I have done something wrong, I apologize.  It clears my conscience, acknowledges the fact that I know I have done wrong, and allows me an opportunity to atone for my actions.  This is good for me because it identifies areas that I have faulty thinking about.  Perhaps it is even an experience of not thinking at all.  Once I see the error, I have the chance to learn something about myself and re-evaluate my actions, reactions and thought patterns.  I can then consider what I might have done differently and make a change for the better.

Now, I don’t want to pick on young people and say that they are the only problem.  Age is not the main factor.  In fact, I don’t think this issue would be so prevalent in kids if there were not so many examples for them to follow in our society.  There will need to be a major shift in our collective thinking about this issue for it to get back on track.

Tragedy often brings people together in cooperative action.  The events of 9/11 brought out the best in people as our citizens became far more concerned about what happened to some of us than the danger to themselves.  Beginning with the heroic actions of the first responders and branching out to ordinary people, self-involvement fell by the wayside when we, as a country, bonded together against the evil deeds that were perpetrated upon us.

But, after the passage of time, those feelings of humanistic solidarity waned and gradually we sank back into self-interest and the behavior that goes with it.  Awareness is key to making a change of any kind.  Maybe it would behoove us to examine our consciences and decide what each of us can do within ourselves to make a positive difference.  I always like to say that if we didn’t need each other, then there would only be one of us here.  It’s something to think about, either way.  Self-involvement and the rudeness that often accompanies it, is not a pretty picture of us.  I for one, would like the chance to have a photo retake day.