Find the Real Cause

We all know the important awareness cause is in the month of October, don't we?  Yes, we all do.  Let's say it together on three.  Ready?  1...2...3...domestic violence!  Okay, I know there should not be an exclamation point after that, but you know how it goes when you get everyone shouting at once.  Wait.  That wasn't the cause you were thinking of?  Why not?  Oh, right.  Because it is also breast cancer awareness month.  Which is much.  More.  Marketable.  Before you get your pink ribbons in a bunch, yes, breast cancer awareness is very important.  Extremely important.  No one will ever argue that.  If they do, punch them in the throat.  What I want to discuss is the NFL and the opportunity they are missing to clean up their image. 

Since 2000, there have been 87 arrests involving 80 players involved in domestic violence.  More information here from an article published in 2014.  There are three well known players that were suspended last year.  Ray Rice, Greg Hardy, and Adrian Peterson.  Hardy and Peterson, served their suspension and are playing this year.  Rice, by all accounts was past his prime, and is not playing this year.  And by all accounts, he's done.  Peterson and Hardy, on the other hand, are still considered stars in the league and that is why they are playing this year.  Plus, Rice's act of violence was caught on camera, the others were not.

*Side note*

Even after the horrific video surfaces of Rice attacking is fiancee, beloved Tony Dungy thought Rice should have another shot at the NFL and wouldn't be a distraction to a team.  This is the same man that thought Michael Sam WOULD be a distraction to a team.  Sam, the first openly gay man drafted by an NFL team, never made an opening day roster.

*Side note over*

For all the efforts the NFL put into denouncing domestic violence, you would think that they would stand firm and blacklist these stars and set an example to the rest of the players of the league.  But oh no, they can't do that.  This is not to say that the other major sports do not have their problems, because they do.  But, I don't think they have as much pageantry that the NFL does when it comes to honoring cancer survivors and remembering those that people have lost to the disease.  Do I want the NFL to stop breast cancer awareness?  Absolutely not.  I just feel that they have a responsibility to acknowledge the domestic violence issue that the league has and maybe use their public platform to bring awareness to it.  And, I don't know, use said platform to raise money or supplies to donate.   

So they ignore an important cause in the month of October because they want to draw some attention to it, but not so much attention that they have to put forth any kind of effort in the eyes of the public.  So they stick to having their players, and coaches, and referees, and announcers wear little pink ribbons, and wrist bands, and socks, and gloves, and they make sure that everyone remembers, that one cause (which cannot be controlled) is more important to them because saving everyone from cancer is more important than saving people from others.  

The Importance of Disconnecting

As technology improves at what seems like a monthly basis, it is important to remember two things.  1.) it is important in today's society and 2.) it is important to step away occasionally.  Yes, there are drawbacks to having this instant access, but there is also upside.  It is nice to know what is going on in the world at any given moment, but it creates this addiction to instant information.  Which can be harmful at times.  Or just downright frustrating.  I mean, how many times have we seen a news story retracted or revised because not all the facts are out or right, but the story is already all over the internet?  

This is not only the lifestyle that the younger generations are growing up with, it is the lifestyle that the older generations have to adapt to.  By the time the evening news is reporting a story that happened in the early afternoon, it's already considered an old story.  If something happened at noon on a Tuesday, by three o'clock, all the details have come out and we are on to the next new story.  You have to keep up or you are left in the news dust.  

It's funny how older generations look at the younger generations right now in the way that they are always on their phones.  They look at them as though they are disconnected from the world, whereas they are more connected than the previous generation.  We no longer have to wait for the 5:00 news to find out what is happening.  We can make fun of people taking selfie after selfie after selfie all we want, but they carry in the palm of their hands, instant access to everything everywhere and any given moment.  It allows them to have that instant connection, and with that, more awareness of worldly events.  They can know what is going on in Switzerland if they want.  So even though they are staring at their phone screens all day long, they could be keeping up on current events.  Either that or they are reading list posts from Buzzfeed.  Is this a good thing though?  Personally, I spend most of my lunch break on my phone.  Reading articles, catching up on Facebook and Twitter.  It allows me to know what is going on.  Even though I work pretty early in the morning, the world still turns and important things are still happening.

With all that said, it is important to disconnect from it all.  Let's face it, we live in a pretty fucked up society, and terrible stories are what a lot of the media thrive upon.  When was the last time you watched the news and they only reported stories that made you happy?  When was the last time you went through a news site that didn't have at least two articles written about an awful story?  With all this instant access and continual updates, it can wear on you mentally.  Find a topic that you are interested in.  Read all about it.  Continue to read all about it.  How much is too much?  How long before anything that you are reading isn't sinking in?  It's like going to a lecture.  How much information can you take in before you stop hearing anything that is being said.  Same holds true for what you read.  How many stories of bombings in the Middle East can you read before it just turns into 'another story'.  How many stories of innocent people being killed by police can you read before you start forgetting their names? 

Sure, you can step away from it all for an hour or two, but what good would that do for you?  I suppose it depends on how much you can take in.  Whenever I go home for vacation, I always feel refreshed by the time I get back to work.  It's because I have minimum stress on vacation.  Everyone needs to do that with the internet too.  Take a few days off.  Stay off social media.  Stay away from the shit storm that is the world.  Pick up a book and forget about it all.  It is important for your mental health.  Even if you don't think you need to, do it.  Stop hitting the refresh button on your browser and it the power off button instead.