Categories: Articles, Hazel Rosetta Smith,
At an early age, I was introduced to a song written by Harold Arlen and Johnny Mercer. In 1944, that song, said to have been conceived by Mercer after a church sermon, was featured in a movie titled “Here Come the Waves.”
The title and the repetitive phrase of the song, “You Got to Accentuate the Positive” offers a mindset to eliminate the negative and do not mess with Mr. In-Between. Those words have taken on new meaning during these trying times when it is getting harder day by day to stay positive. Stress management is a vital practice along with prayer and meditation to maintain good mental health.
As our nation and the global world move back and forth in negotiations and threats, we are all subject to the fluctuation of positive and negative thinking. Most interesting is the concept of Mr. In-Between.
When it is not clear as to whether the message is positive or negative, the in between notions will be confusion. This became known recently when the new administration announced a pause in federal grants and loans. This set off an immediate concert of confusion and concern throughout the United States.
How can we accentuate the positive when there is no area of anything good in such a proposal? Every American is affected by a federal grant or loan, from college students, health insurance, both Medicare and Medicaid, welfare, food stamps, Social Security, non-profits, and Section 8 housing, among numerous others.
The thought on most minds had to be, can it get any worse as disrespect for all people is expressed publicly in spoken words and written on social media by members of the present administration.
When the people don’t know what to believe is real from its leaders, it leads to a desperate level of mistrust in all facets of government. When the people of the nation are held in limbo of fear about what will be taken away in one swift signature, there can only be negative reactions.
When the decision is overturned in a matter of a day, as if it never was intended, that is a prescription of poor medication for emotional upheaval. We wait for hopeful debates and strong advocacy on our behalf from those in power seats as we wait for the next shoe to drop.
Ranting and raving is not helpful or healthy. Individually, we must maintain some sense of sanity by continuing to activate and support those programs from organizations that have our well-being on their agenda.
Choose to believe that with faith and steadfast commitment, we can accentuate the positive and eliminate the negative. We must stay abreast of every effort to exclude knowledge that is mandatory for our survival. Hang tough in the rough!
[Hazel Rosetta Smith is a journalist, playwright, and artistic director for Help Somebody Theatrical Ministries, retired former Managing Editor and Woman’s Editor of the New York Beacon News. Contact: misshazel@twc.com and hazelrosettasmith.com]
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