Not So Bad News Afterall

For the past three months, I have had issues with my Sky TV signals so haven’t been able to watch anything that required the satellite dish. Initial problem solving suggested it was an issue with the communal dish but after some factfinding the estate management said it was definitely a Sky TV problem.

Eventually Sky TV came back and said there was an issue from their end which they fixed but there was still an issue at the other end which was for the Estate management to resolve. Long story short, three months later, I am still without my previously beloved Sky TV but interestingly, I am completely undisturbed.

At the start of this drama, having Sky TV was my norm as it came as a package with my broadband service. But my busyness meant that I didn’t really have much time to watch it but I would record the odd programme that I was keen to watch. Now, I can’t even remember the programmes that I would have normally recorded.

Over the past weekend when I had an opportunity to watch the News, I was reminded of the gloom and doom that most of the news channels covered in a loop. I realised all the bad news that I had not been drip-fed with and realised that not having the satellite service was not ‘so bad news after all’.

It was actually good news as I could access the news headline once in the morning on my tablet, get the headlines that mattered on a need to know basis only. No one needs to hear negative news repeatedly for it to sink in. Between all the global issues, Ukrainian-Russian crisis, the recession, energy and cost of living crisis and gang related killings, watching the news was like negativity on steroids.

As I reflect on this, my biggest lesson is realising how undisturbed I am about it and the realisation that I can survive without it.

And it struck me that this is what real life is about; there are things that we can’t imagine being without and situations that we think will break us but quite often the opposite happens. We realise we can endure more than we thought, we can do without many things that are normal for us today without the quality of lives deteriorating.

And even when our worst fears come true, many of us will realise that they come with the message of how much we can endure and that we are stronger than we ever realised. So even the bad news, given time, ends up becoming a ‘not so bad news’.

A poem that perfectly conveys this message is ‘The Oak Tree’ by Johnny Ray Ryder Jr, so it’s only fitting that I share that poem with you. Enjoy!

“The Oak Tree” by Johnny Ray Ryder Jr.

A mighty wind blew night and day.

It stole the Oak Tree’s leaves away.

Then snapped its boughs

and pulled its bark

until the Oak was tired and stark.

But still the Oak Tree held its ground

while other trees fell all around.

The weary wind gave up and spoke,

How can you still be standing Oak?”

The Oak Tree said, I know that you

can break each branch of mine in two,

carry every leaf away,

shake my limbs and make me sway.

But I have roots stretched in the earth,

growing stronger since my birth.

You’ll never touch them, for you see

they are the deepest part of me.

Until today, I wasn’t sure

of just how much I could endure.

But now I’ve found with thanks to you,

I’m stronger than I ever knew.

Thanks for reading and sharing my post. Have a great week.