Black Friday. Drama…
I dont blog often, but felt I wanted to speak to this…
Black Friday. The day after Thanksgiving day.
We have just spent a day of fellowship, family, friends and a ton of food. We’ve chosen to take a day specifically to say… we are grateful.
Then Friday comes and the world falls apart. I know this sounds dramatic, but what I am seeing in the social media world is drama.
Last month at Cross Point, we spent some time challenging ourselves to focus on gratitude. I heard amazing, life changing stories from so many people that chose to spend last month focusing what is good in life. The reality is that gratitude is a choice and it is most often based on our perspective.
There is a lot of doom and gloom these days. Often, the media becomes our perspective. Unfortunately, the media is in business for ratings. And shock sells. The good in life doesn’t often find its way to the evening news unless its a “special story” at the end of the newscast about some dog helping a handicap person across the street. Its sad that we allow ourselves to focus so heavily on the bad, that we completely disregard the good. Its as if the bad outweighs the good. And that just isn’t based in reality. Its preached in the media and then hyped in the social media world.
Today, on Black Friday, we can choose to change our perspective. We can choose to stop focusing and celebrating the evil of the 10-20 idiots with pepper spray and we can choose to focus on the other 100 million that shop today… in peace. WIll we run across a bad attitude today? You bet! We will hear people argue or fight over a toy? Of course! But, I challenge you, that for every guy or gal in a bad mood, there are 100 around them looking to enjoy themselves today.
And please, dont give me this crap about retailers and how evil they are and how they’ve destroyed christmas. Ugh. If you buy even a single gift for someone this year, you’ve bought into the need to “purchase” to give.
By the way, do you know where the term black friday came from? It originated in Philadelphia over traffic on this day. Then it became the standard title for retailers to use, because this day often put them “in the black” financially. So, I wonder how this day became commonly known as “Black Friday” to the public? My guess… the media.
