If we truly listened to the loud voices of media of all kinds and heeded every message they put forth, we all would most likely be panic-stricken most of the time.

Some talking head is always speaking as if the issue they are promoting or backing is the most important issue facing the human race, and if you do not comply completely with their one, single-minded train of thought, somehow you are just not getting the message.

Focus on home

Most of the time, we get the message, but we have bigger fish to fry. Although I’ll admit that the daily news gives me my fair share of heartburn and anxiety, it does no good to dwell on things we cannot change. Focusing on our little corner of reality, that farm and ranch that we call home and those loved ones who inhabit the homeplace with us, is often the best we can do to make the world better.

I know many folks who — contrary to what we are expected to feel — have a huge dose of anxiety and even depression over the holiday season. They may have lost a loved one, and this is their first holiday without them.

They may be overwhelmed with worry about finances, gift-giving and living up to the standards society places on us this time of year. They may be concerned about market prices, how to pay for needed repairs, or perhaps illnesses or other challenges facing their families.

The world, it seems, likes to complicate things and make them more complex than they need to be. The holiday season is not complicated. The message of this season is very, very simple, so we probably should heed the world a little less and that simple message a lot more this time of year.

Keep calm

Keeping calm in the face of adversity hasn’t always been my strong suit. I’ve had my fair share of meltdowns when the cattle and their calves go running down the road, when the harvest or prices wouldn’t pay the bills, when machinery repairs would come at a time when we could least afford them, and when personal tragedy and the loss of loved ones overwhelmed everything else that was going on.

It feels like we as a society are often off the rails, and we don’t know how to get back on. Maybe that’s why we talk so much about improving our mental health and our outlook on life in general. I don’t pretend to have those answers. I do know that one way to slow the anxiety down is to block out some of the messengers in our lives that cause us the most unfounded worry.

Lowering the volume on the talking heads and going back to that simple message, focusing on the homeplace and the folks who really matter who live there and work with us day in and day out are probably key methods to improve that outlook, improve the holidays and boost our view of the future on the farm going into 2023.

Comments or questions? Drop me an email at [email protected].