Usually, I try to steer clear of the news because 80–90% of it is just rage bait masquerading as current affairs. That's not to say there's no value in staying informed, but I'm a big believer that if something is truly important, you'll hear about it anyway.
People cannot help themselves.
That said, this conflict is almost unavoidable…
… even for the common shrew like me.
If it isn't dominating our feeds and front pages, it's starting to hit us all at the gas pumps. I'll admit, at first, I sensibly stockpiled on essentials given how quickly chaos ensued when lockdowns came into effect the world over.
I wasn't about to get caught out a second time.
Not with two young sons and a partner with an expensive Coca-Cola habit thanks to the UK sugar tax.
Could I have stockpiled more?
Absolutely, but here's why I'm choosing not to:
Markets crash, wars happen, power shifts, economies wobble… and yet, over time, things always recover.
Not always smoothly, and certainly not always quickly…
But they do.
Check the history if you still have your brow cocked.
So instead of spiralling over things I can't influence, I stick to the fundamentals:
Do my work, look after the family, and continue moving forward without fearing what may or may not stagger on the horizon. Worrying about things outside your control is a futile game that almost always leads to a life of angst.
(Ask me how I know that.)
So my response to the war in Iran?
Continue to write these emails…
Continue to spend time with my family…
And continue to craft stories that entertain the heck out of people, especially in times like these.
Should you find yourself cupping your eyes and ears a lot more than you'd like these days, I have just the series to provide some relief:
https://djjwatsonstore.com/products/TDR-Bundle
DJJW