Practice mindfulness or meditation to reduce stress.
The best way I’ve found to reduce stress is to remove myself from other people’s drama. I also apply the drama thing to the news. That’s one way the news stations get viewers and listeners – fire them up. I choose not to let CNN, FOX, or MSNBC work on my emotions. For me, reading the news doesn’t have the same effect on me as watching and listening to someone giving their slant.
The media tells some stories, it does not tell all the stories. It provides a small glimpse into our world. When someone provides fake news all we’re getting is a glimpse into that person’s mind and the biases and demons that exist within that mind. If we don’t want to be conned, we have to dig for the truth. I won’t read news reports that have the words, “could, might, or may in the headlines. Those articles are speculative and the author is no closer to knowing what “might” happen than you and I. Be wise. Be vigilant. Be informed.
Information rushes at us at incredible speed. I get my news and information from Internet sources. When I review my online news sources my first filter is the headline. If the headlines has the words “could happen” or “might happen” I skip them. They’re not real, so why get worked up. I read a headline this morning that told me, “you should be worried too.” My first thought, ‘yah, right! I’m going to worry over something over which I have no control.” Many news sources write headlines that elicit an extreme emotion such as anger or fear. Don’t let them trick you. Ignore them. You’ll fell a heck of lot better.
What if I didn’t let the news stick in my brain today? There’s infinitely more good news than there is bad news. Good news doesn’t sell. Bad news grabs our attention. It pokes at our instincts to survive. Reports of crime far out weigh the reports of kind acts. Yet, I’d speculate kind acts far exceed criminal acts. If I don’t allow myself to get hooked into the bad news, I’ve an opportunity to smile more, laugh, and spontaneously break out into song for no reason other than to sing.
What if I stopped catastrophizing? It’s easy to imagine the worse. We are bombarded with bad news throughout the day. Political parties catastrophize the impact of the other party taking power. The news outlets increase their readership with doomsday reporting. It’s no wonder we often think of the worse possible outcomes. We don’t have to think this way. We can flip the script. When we catch ourselves castrophizing, we can tell ourselves, “there you go again, what if it is a great outcome, what would that look like.” Try it, it works.
What if one didn’t listen to news-related podcasts or watch the network or cable news. Instead, what if one chose to read the news online from credible, competing perspectives news outlets. One might be challenged to think about things differently. Or, one might broaden one’s perspective of where the truth is in the news being reported.
The voices of doom were in fine voice this morning as I read the news. They spoke of inflation, recession, evil people winning elections, fires, floods, and melting glaciers. They were forecasting a future even worse than their news. They bore me. I see a different world. I see people helping each other. I see tough times making us stronger and good times ahead. I have an optimistic faith in a democracy figuring it out and things working out. I’m not going to hide in a closet. I going to choose to enjoy life. I’ll let the naysayers sing their dirges. I prefer to sing and dance.
There is so much good going on. I witness a neighbor helping out another neighbor as she prepares to move. I read a news piece where school children cleaned a park. I know of a young musician and his dad who play music at nursing homes on weekends. I meet good people every day. I witness kind acts every day. I’m sure your experience is similar to mine. There’s good going on and it’s the glue holding everything together.
The news comes at us non stop. We hardly have a chance before the next big headline grabs hold of our attention. Don’t let it control your life. Be informed Be wise. Enjoy life.
