Proverbs Reflections Day 4 - Jealous? Get off the News Treadmill.

30 A tranquil mind gives life to the body,

but jealousy rots the bones.

In his book, The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, the great Stephen Covey wrote about circles of influence and what we can really change and what we cannot change.

There are simply way too many things that we cannot directly influence, which we must avoid letting dominate our mind and causing us unrest, anxiety and jealously.

I would guess that around 75-99% of "news" these days is filled with things we can do nothing about and is simply sensationalism. I do not mean that we should be uninformed or live under a rock, but that we should be informed on things that are actually important and not hang on to every bit of news that we hear.

We have choices to make and things that need our direct attention everyday. Focus on what needs to be done IN THE PRESENT MOMENT. It is going to take a lot of prayers for me not to be uncharitable towards those who check their phone while having a conversations, driving, walking, eating dinner, etc.

All that the constant news flow does is steal away the thankfulness and joy we can and should wake up with everyday.

Remember even those people who make gold records put on their pants one leg at a time and bleed their own blood. Who gives two fruits what they are wearing today or who they are dating or how many shares of KO they have in their offshore bank account.

Do what you gotta do today and be grateful for one person or gift you have been given.