21st April 2008

Last Thursday I went along to the local hall to hear the motivational speaker Tony Christianson which was organised by St Johns Ambulance as a fund raiser. I hadn't planned on it, but my arm had been twisted by a stalwart who spent her weekend driving around the district drumming up support. For those who have not heard of him, he lost both legs from below the hip at the age of 9 and through his strength of will spent the next 40 years building up a business, mountain climbing, Olympic sports, piloting aircraft, car racing and many other pursuits. Listening to him it was very easy to be inspired and postive about life.
Listening to Morning Report on National radio the next morning, that positivity was quickly drained away. The champions of negativity, the politicians were in full flight over free trade agreements and businesses closing up shop to move to countries where they only had to pay the workers $2 an hour. Blame was still trying to be apportioned over the loss of the Rugby World Cup last October. Blame over a shipping accident 2 years previous was being dished out in a report. Blamewas trying to be pinned over the act of God where 6 teenagers and their teacher were washed to their deaths in a river flash flood. In the hour and half I listened before flicking the switch over to the Concert programme there was only one positive story, a fishing trip.

All around us are the moaners and blamers drumming away at our earlobes which must affect the national psyche. When life was a real struggle with people coping with wars, disease and natural disasters, people got on with the job of rebuilding their lives using their own resources to become people like Mr Christianson. It takes adversity to build strength of character. Sadly we are drowning in negativity and will only be saved when a disaster of cataclysmic proportion reduces the whole of society to survival mode. We'll be too busy trying to cope with the basics to worry about blaming anyone.

Meanwhile, perhaps the most positve thing I can do to start my days is to give Morning Report the chop and leave the radio tuned to the Concert programme.

TC