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Like it or not, issues, apprehension, concerns, crises, quandaries and fears continue to arise to dog the heels and brains of those involved with Smooth Jazz. Barring the emergence of a younger-skewing Hot Smooth Jazz format to compliment Classic Smooth Jazz -- credit KWJZ/Seattle MD and air personality Dianna Rose for articulating this provocative concept, or as I think of it: a picture of a shadow of a glimmer of hope -- the number of over-the-air Smooth Jazz outlets will continue to decline. More programmers and air talent will be furloughed. It's a sad thought; scary too. So, how do you effectively confront trepidation when it comes up? Actionable responses are urgently needed now, when the fate of so many people's jobs, careers and survival are at stake.
Psychiatrist Viktor Frankl recounted the horror and savagery he endured in Auschwitz in his masterpiece of contemporary scholarship, "Man's Search for Meaning." His insights, informed by an unfathomable experience in the Nazi death camp, offers the following perspective by addressing the existential dilemma.
Frankl wrote: "The one thing you can’t take away from me is the way I choose to respond to what you do to me. The last of one's freedoms is to choose ones attitude in any given circumstance….When we are no longer able to control a situation, we must change ourselves."
Have you noticed that, if you gnaw on a serious concern enough, it gathers momentum and takes on a life of its own? Not long after Nielsen Company eliminated the Smooth Jazz Editor position at R&R earlier this year, I remembered what I'd been too happily preoccupied to keep in perspective: We are free to focus the energy we spend worrying in pursuit of productive purposes, ones that enhance bottom lines and uplift spirits -- not only our own, but others.' Reams of documentation suggest that paying daily, mindful attention for even a few minutes devoted to concentration – "practice" – can produce liberating results for even the inveterate worry-wart.
It might be helpful to focus your efforts on fostering a sense of inner peace and balance. This can create a stronger state of mind that will help stabilize your emotions and reduce the likelihood of upsets. If you take the time to think first, you can avoid overreacting emotionally and instead choose the response you feel is most productive in any situation. By choosing to develop a peaceful, detached state of mind, we can remain centered and balanced regardless of what is happening around us. We have the power to choose what we want to internalize and what we want to release. |
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The Straight Skinny
"The Last of One's Freedoms"
Laid-off or not, welcomed perspective if you could use a little mercy right now
By Carol Archer |