Think Locally

I grew up watching the news every evening with my family. It was more than a ritual — the nightly news was an important institution. Other shows on television were a brain-rotting waste of time. But the news was special. For an hour a day, my head was filled with important worldly affairs. That’s a good thing, right?

I’ve thought quite a bit lately about how I spend my time. Life is short; I’ve got a lot left to experience. So populating my thoughts with ideas that I can’t act on would be a tragic waste of time. This concept led me to a simple maxim: Think Locally.

Thinking locally means focusing your attention exclusively towards things you can act on. It means not wasting brain cycles on economic crises, swine flu cases, terrorist plots, and Toyota recalls. Focus on what you can change. Otherwise you’ll be stuck living other people’s lives.

Photo by joiseyshowaa under Creative Commons