Here’s To No More Rainy Days and Mondays
Jun 03, 2013
So, in my little part of the world it’s been raining all day. It’s a gloomy Monday and all day I’ve felt a bit like Karen Carpenter singing “Rainy Days and Mondays”.
Image courtesy of Dan/FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Sometimes I’d like to quit.
Nothing ever seems to fit.
Hangin’ around, nothing to do but frown.
Rainy days and Mondays always get me down.
These words seem to sum up my emotions as I reflect on this blog lately. I’m fairly certain that there are plenty of vaccine advocates – like myself and the frequent commenters here – who have considered “quitting”. You know, just giving up and not challenging the repeated lies and misinformation that are being spread by the anti-vaccination extremists. What if we simply ignore them and refuse to spend any more of our time and effort correcting all the inaccuracies in their statements?
(more lyrics…)
Funny but it seems I always wind up here with you.
Nice to know somebody loves me.
Funny but it seems that it’s the only thing to do.
Run and find the one who loves me.
But every time I consider hanging it up, I find myself right back in the thick of it all.
What’s funny is that the people who “love me” are probably the handful of people who actually disagree with my sentiment on this blog. They don’t actually love me, but they obviously love being here. Why else would they continuously create new and ever-changing identities and use them to repeat the same lines of chorus out of the anti-vaccine songbook? They use this forum to spew out their familiar conspiracy theories, misguided arguments and undocumented misinformation.
But thankfully there are several committed participants here who refuse to allow the misinformation to go unchallenged. (And contrary to what some may believe, they are not paid to do this.) For their knowledge and commitment, and most of all for their patience and support, I am very grateful. They comment here because they know that the credible links they provide, the insightful reasoning they use and the logical way in which they disassemble the anti-vaccine positions are critical to our efforts to prevent disease and encourage vaccination. Together we reach thousands of silent observers who read this blog, but do not comment.
(more lyrics…)
What I feel is come and gone before.
No need to talk it out.
We know what it’s all about.
Hangin’ around. nothing to do but frown.
Rainy days and Mondays always get me down
It’s true that this has all “come and gone before”. I plan to continue my efforts here on this blog and am always open to suggestions from you, the readers. How can we encourage a more diverse and productive conversation? Do you think that by allowing so much anti-vaccine sentiment that we are preventing vaccine hesitant people from asking valid questions and addressing their concerns? Or are we helping to refute their positions? If you are someone who came here looking for honest and verifiable information about vaccines, are you inclined to return? Why or why not? If you prefer not to comment directly on this post, simply email Vaccinate Your Family at info@vaccinateyourfamily.org with your comments and suggestions.
As I considered my own responses, I came across this video that a fellow Shot@Life champion shared on Facebook. I was reminded that sometimes there is “no need to talk it out”. The majority of people “know what it’s all about.”
The tune in my head changed in an instant. No. Actually it changed in a flash. A flash MOB, that is!
Here you will see a mob of people so committed to help in the amazing effort to eradicate polio that they are willing to put their dance moves out there for everyone to see. Now I love to dance and this song will definitely get you grooving, but I’m fairly certain I wouldn’t want to see a video of myself dancing on YouTube, except of course for a good cause. (That’s because I imagine that I look good on the dance floor but that doesn’t mean it’s true.) But that is exactly why this video made me smile.
Take a moment to watch these people, young and old alike, dancing their hearts out in joyous celebration of Rotary International and their efforts to End Polio Now. The fact is that we are “This Close” to eradicating polio.
[youtube=http://youtu.be/c8Mrw1Lr5fI]
This video demonstrates that there are many people dedicated to this noteworthy cause. It’s also evidence that when we put our mind to something, it can be accomplished. There may be a lot of hard work left to do in the final push to end this disease, but we should all take a moment on this rainy Monday to recognize the sun peering through the clouds. Our rainbow may not appear until after we weather the storm, but the anticipation of the rainbow is what makes riding the storm so worth it.
The forecast is for more rain tomorrow, and maybe even the next day. But I know that one day I will wake up to the glorious sun!
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