To a broader life: Self-talk to a morning paper

Sometimes, it’s hard to figure out what to believe in when reading a daily paper. One side of brain absorbs what the things are and the other one criticizes. This is what good reading must be; it is not only about being passive but being able to make an own voice whether the information that happened in reality is good to believe in or not. The news for example about the truth of political dynasty. From it, there has to be a mind, the reader, who practices to form his opinion. As Newton would say in the law of motion: “For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. To read means to react, and to react from what you read is to form your own word. That is how a fruitful reading must go.

The more this man reads a morning paper, the better he learns to balance all the voice and energy of the information. It has to be processed in mind either by talking to someone and listen to other’s opinion or by simply doing a self-talk. To the reader especially the young ones, there’s no one else who absorb and interpret the information that way but only you. Since you have them in your mind first or maybe the second thing of your morning, you must be able to choose among the doors of the faculty of mind such as to believe, not yet, or not to believe at all. After, that’s the time when you can listen to yourself from acquiring those information and pull that self which you know who you are. Get that thing which you believe in before believing in the other’s self, the writers for example. Grab that thing, make it your own opinion because it’s the nearest side or the center of who you are. Now, if you are doing it regularly without spending an hour of meditation or silence, then by your own you are a good reader; and you must be. Make yourself differ from those who do not read the newspaper because they enjoy not knowing the things worth learning or they prefer to know other things.

Reading the morning paper is like seeing how the world rotates and what the people do every day; love, war, killing, senatorial debate, beliefs of the communists, principle of the democrats, issues on some clerics, tips on a healthy life, celebration of personalities, and so much more. When you read every day, it is like seeing how these things move to life. You may not care about them but at least you are aware they are happening in some way and some other part of the globe. They may not affect you but at least by reading you feel affected. It means you value your right to know and you are living a broader sense of life. This is how the young man does self-talk over a cup of coffee and a morning paper.

Edmer John Caballes

Mandaue City