DANA:  I have a dear friend who says a lot of things that sound good on the surface, but I also hear a lot of regret, resentment, and loneliness behind what he says. He holds a lot in, like most of us, and it makes me wonder why he just doesn’t pick up the phone and talk things through with people more. That thought doesn’t even cross his mind! But then maybe all of us should start picking up the phone a little more—not to text—just to talk.

I’ve had to pull back on a lot of things recently, just to stay sane and to keep my focus on my responsibilities. I haven’t watched a news show all the way through in a long time. Part of that is the time commitment required, but it’s also because the world is looking pretty dire these days. But then, most of that stuff is outside of my control anyway, so I’m choosing to focus more on what’s in front of me right now. My exercise classes, my dad, my friends, myself—that’s what I’m concentrating on.

In my mind, I keep hearing that quote from A Few Good Men: “You can’t handle the truth!”  That line seems so relevant today. We always think we’re seeing things clearly, but the fact is, everything is filtering through the ideas and beliefs that we already have in our heads. It’s too bad, but I’m just not sure that most folks are willing to question their own beliefs and really dig for the truth in things. Words are important, too, and now more than ever, we need to guard against using our mouths as a weapon. I know some really ugly stuff can come out of my mouth if I don’t make an effort to edit myself. Plus, if I say something thoughtless or nasty to someone, I know I’ll just feel bad afterwards. The fact is, I don’t want anyone to be hurt by something I’ve said or done, and I don’t want to walk around with a guilty conscience either. Here in America, we really need to get back to some of these common courtesies and basic human decencies.