Ignore the Barkers
And there sure are a lot of them online these days.
“Ignore them. They’re just barkers.”
That’s what I would say to my dog Jasper when we passed a certain corner in our neighborhood.
Jasper is a chill little dog but every day we had to pass major-league professional YAPPERS — two little dogs who rushed the fence like anti-trans magats at a school board meeting, lunging and baring their teeth and generally losing their shit.
YAP YAP YAP GROWL BARK BARK BARK.
Of course, Jasper was tempted to react. So I had to work with him to focus and not get rattled by the frenzy of canines who only knew how to react with fear and force.
“Don’t let them get you crazy,” I would tell him.
Maybe We All Live in That Neighborhood Now
When I get online these days, I tell myself those same words I gave to Jasper: Ignore the barkers.
Because there are many digital barkers now — in America and all over the world.
Life in the Information Age is full of barkers everywhere.
People (real and fake) are yapping and lunging at the social fence, desperate to get you to lose your shit and lunge back.
But here’s the thing about lunging at the fence — while it can be fun once in a while, if you are not facing a real threat then you are wasting your time and energy.
And that’s not smart.
What to Do Instead
Stay calm. Control your breathing. Don’t let the barkers of the world make you nuts. That’s what they want. They are in a frenzy and they want you to join their frenzy.
Don’t give in.
Notice their noise … and decide what you want to do. Not every action must provoke a reaction. Remember what Viktor Frankl said:
“Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms—to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s way.
And there were always choices to make.”
So choose your way.
Maybe this is a time to put your boot up somebody’s ass.
Or maybe not.
Maybe you want to stay focused. Walk your path. Be alert but don’t let the barkers take your peace.
Be you. Stay you. Walk your path.
Also, deadlift. Dogs can’t do that but you know they would if they had opposable thumbs.
P.S. Now is a perfect time to read (or reread) Man’s Search for Meaning — the excellent short book Viktor Frankl wrote after surviving Auschwitz.
Bonus Reads:
