Too much TV news could be reason you’re not as happy

According to The Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index our little bit of heaven here in Sandy Springs is in one of the happiest areas in the country. Imagine that. With all the bad news flying around us we’re happy and share the top spot with a coastal section of San Francisco.

Hey, if we can be as happy as those out west — without a beach — then we’re doing pretty well. It’s not easy to be happy these days. Especially if you take in a lot of TV news.

I don’t mean to single out the broadcasters, but how many ways can they tell us: The stock market is a roller coaster to hell; unemployment is up; people’s retirement portfolios are hemorrhaging. [insert name of Major Corporation] announced a layoff. There’s no end in sight. At least they aren’t reporting one.

It looks like they are getting pretty skilled at repackaging the bad news a different way on a daily basis. Then on Sunday they trot out their commentators to explain the past week’s grim news, which is a little like combining a paper cut and lemon juice. Even the commercials for the news are depressing. The big selling point seems to be how bad things are, how bad they will be and how there is no hope in sight.

The usual outcry is for the news people in all media to report some good news, but a friend has a better idea. After weeks of getting stressed he tried the following experiment. He stopped watching the news for a few days. It didn’t make the economy any better, but neither was his psyche getting relentlessly pounded. I’m not suggesting we kill the messengers — they have to eat and pay bills, too. I’m just saying we all might feel a little better if we stopped endlessly dosing ourselves with doom, gloom, death and destruction.

Think about it. Do you really need to watch the news several times per day? Every day? Do you think the quality of your life would slide into perdition if you skipped Katie Couric for a few days. Tuned in some “I Love Lucy” or walked the dog? Opened the daily paper to the comics and Peach Buzz first? Listened to music instead of Rush?

I’ve been in the news business off and on for 30 years and I promise that if the economy takes a huge upswing, you will not miss out. It’s not like a raffle where you have to be present to win. The good news will find you.

So why are we Sandy Springsteens so happy? No idea. Maybe we don’t watch a lot of TV news. As for me I start every day with a healthy family, a roof over my head, clothes on my back, enough to eat and a job to go to. The first thing I do in the morning is feed the dogs and enjoy the sunrise. No TV news is seen or heard. I wonder what Katie Couric would think.

• Jim Osterman, with a few work- and school-related breaks, has lived in Sandy Springs since 1962.