Life is hard/difficult, the world is in trouble...
I keep hearing things along those lines everywhere. Inspirational speakers are addressing it as people keep asking them about it since they're concerned or stressed out.

This has me thinking, what are people busy with? Why focus on negativity?
I know you get sucked into that when you follow the (social) media & news, but then, why do that?

I stopped watching/listening to the news end of 2015. Changed my life! It became so much better and peaceful, joyful!
Let's be honest, news doesn't add anything to your world and your life it only creates stress, anger, anxiety, worry. So why go there?

When I told my then-partner he reacted something like, "But then you don't know what your colleagues are talking about?"
I get that same reaction from people when I tell them I don't follow the news. It is clear people think you miss out on something and that it affects your social life.
But then, if your social life hinges on negativity, the stuff the media & news spout, you may want to revalue your social life and create another healthier one!
And if you only follow it to be able to converse with colleagues... are they worth ruining your life over?

I've gone 7,5 years without news and I'm not missing out on anything, except for a lot of stress, concern, anger etc. and I'm glad for it as I don't need that in my life!
Me knowing something awful happened somewhere in the world doesn't make that event any better. If people got hurt their hurt won't be alleviated by me knowing about it. Me suffering with them doesn't alleviate their pain. Me worrying about a war doesn't end it.
So why go there?

Gregg Braden explains it beautifully in one of his latest vids too. And one of our politicians -Thierry Baudet- also mentioned it:
The media & news are in service of politics, corporations, religion.
They don't spread news anymore like they once used to, they spread opinions. And since they're used/in service of politics, corporations, religion, these opinions are severely biased and often downright lies.
Yet people listen to this crap several times a day!?!?
Why?
If I listen to the radio because I want to hear music I get exposed to this crap 2x an hour. Meaning for some 12-16x times a day I get that lavished upon me. That's brainwashing. You're exposed to it too often so it sinks into your system, your brain (neural networks begin to fire & wire differently etc.) and all that can make you ill.
Seriously ill.
And stupid thing is, most people don't even know that. And then wonder how they got an ulcer, cancer, a heart attack etc. etc. And yes, that's what all that negativity can cause as it alters neural networks and with that your entire physical state of being.

I haven't missed out on anything during & after 7,5 yrs without news. And somehow I always come across things that ARE important. But then I do NOT listen to or watch the news, I Google it and read about it. The impact of reading is vastly different! That way I am informed about something without the emotional load and I can process it my way.

As for the war in Ukraine, I watch the animated reports by Kings & Generals on YouTube when they come out, which is approximately every fortnight.
That way I stay up to speed with what's going on there without the emotional load and bias as that channel is very neutral.

Point of all this... stop exposing yourself to all the stuff the news & media throw at you. You won't die without, your life won't fall apart. The only thing that happens is that your life and world become much much happier and joyful without all the stress and anxiety.
And don't say it doesn't cause you stress. It does. We're so used to stress we don't even notice it. Even when you watch a sport's match your heart rate goes up as we experience stress. The same happens when listening to bad negative things (news).

Why not try it for a week to see how it changes your life!?

Very interesting topic, Crystal! You made some very valid points about how the news can cause more stress and anxiety….which does indeed affect your physical well being. I must admit that I do watch it more than necessary, just to see if there’s possibly any GOOD news out there
I should take your advice and take a break from it for a week or so to see if it makes a difference in my stress and anxiety levels. I think it will help me concentrate more on my positive vibes, faith, and inner peace . . . I’m anxious to see what other's opinions are on this subject and what course of actions they’ll have!

Well ya could try and fix, in some small ways, your little part of the world that's broken.

Or ya could bury your head in the sand, wear ear buds, and dark glasses when out in public, tune out, and hope all the bad stuff just goes away.

And there it is again. The world isn't broken, so what I'm part of isn't broken either.
I don't hold that view but it's what you come to think when you follow the news & media.
Unplugging from that is not sticking your head in the sand, it's waking up to reality.
The world you live in when you are 'brainwashed' by the news & media -which is everywhere you go- is not reality. It's a biased image that often is a downright lie. But you then cannot see that anymore.
So unplugging from it is the opposite of sticking your head in the sand. It's opening your eyes, rubbing the sand out of your eyes and becoming aware of what is really going on.
Which is: the world is not broken at all.

By all means try it!
I'll tell you another thing, that I left out earlier as it was already so long, but it might interest you and help you to give it a try for real:

A couple of years ago I knew woman who was in total panic, utterly stressed out and in fear, about something that was going on at the time in the EU. She made sure to follow the news so she'd know how bad it was or was going to be. She'd become a nervous wreck and she passed this on to her young children that also became stressed out. (poor kids!)

I told her to stop watching the news for reasons explained above. She resisted and argued that it'd be worse if she didn't know what was going on. Apart from that, her husband watched the news at night.
So I told her, well, that's no reason YOU should watch it with him! Maybe just leave the room or do something else with headphones on while he watches the news.
She still wasn't convinced but in the end she agreed to try it for a week.
After a week she said that she'd done it, no news, and that indeed her angst & stress had gone down tremendously. She felt so much better!
Then the odd thing: she wasn't going to steer clear from the news? In other words, she'd go back to following the news??
Isn't that odd?

Science tells we are wired for negativity more than positivity as in a way it's related to survival of our species a long time ago. We then had to be aware of what was going on around us, monitor constantly for wild animals, enemy tribes etc. etc., anything that could threaten our existence / offspring / family / community.
So it's hardwired in our brains to be on the look out for bad things which was highly functional and helpful in the olden days but now it can work against us.
It is the reason why we tend to lean towards the negative more than the positive.


I'd love for you to try it too, Dee, and then hear how it was for you!!

@Dee, as for positive news out there... I've said that too in the past then was told there was once a station that did this, positive news only.
They had to close up shop in a very short time as they had no audience!!
People don't want to hear the good, they love the bad and the ugly.
Probably for reasons I explained in previous post about us got wired that way for survival reasons in the past.

Years ago I watched a talk show that had a family
on.. parents and 3 genius daughters, something
most unusual..they were still little girls.

When asked to what they attributed the genius of not
one but 3 girls, the parents agreed..they had
never exposed the girls to..negativity.

They had never spoken the word 'No' in any form.

They used diversion to send things in another,
positive direction.

Quite fascinating ;-)

You make it hard.

SparklingCrystal, you are right on the nose with this post. I have been very conscious of my news exposure for years as well.

Removing unnecessary stress influences from our lives is my first recommendation to those experiencing stress or anxiety...or not.

We alleviate much anxiety by actively dealing with the unavoidable stressors that are truly our responsibility and not internalizing others stressful events that we are not responsible for or cannot influence in the moment anyway.

Work related stresses, like heavy workloads or deadlines cannot be avoided. (Not in the moment, anyway.) Getting involved in co-worker drama or break room gossip stresses are avoidable.

Family related stresses, like a parent with dementia or child with a behavioral disorder, cannot be avoided. Being proactive and seeking professional help for these situations lesson the stress generated. But at least this is your stress to manage. Isn't that enough?

Online headline surfing is a good way to stay updated on important current events without subjecting ourselves to overstimulation detail and imagery captured on live or streaming news feeds.

Beautiful story! Thanks for sharing this :)
Just goes to show how powerful it is to stay away from negativity.
It allows the brain to create healthy networks. Healthy not just for physical health -although that for sure as well-, but also abundance, growth, and so on.
Where most of us grew up to believe in lack (I can't, it's not possible etc.) these girls will not have that.
They're wired for greatness and success in life. And if they continue to live this way themselves they will pass it on to their children, creating a branch of healthy people!

What is hard about it? It's a choice. Nothing more, nothing less.

I think this is what Abraham Hicks calls "arguing for your limitations", in other words, coming up with reasons why it isn't possible.
If you think like that it indeed won't be possible. You can however choose to change that way of thinking and start looking for solutions and options.

I've lived with a narcissistic partner for a decade -the worst kind, very abusive. At the same time 2 very difficult children, one of which was his, not mine. Then they got in a relationship together, making matters at home even worse! And I worked an extremely stressful job to go with it.
Saying that time was hard is an understatement. I got a burnout because of it. I was with 4 other people but never have been so lonely in my life. No one loved me, respected me, cared for me, validated me. They all looked down their noses at me, even my own kids.
Yet, it set me on my path to my authentic self! Not because any of them motivated me, but because I chose to, my mindset and the way I'm wired.
I began looking for things to make life enjoyable in spite of the horrible situation, and I began to grow & evolve & learn.
The 2 kids eventually left the house, I left the partner, but I'm still on the path of learning & developing as it brings me joy.

I did the lotus flower thing. Lotus flowers grow in mud yet manage to grow and surface to show their beautiful flowers :)

It's all about choice, what you choose to do, how you want to feel, and pursuing that no matter the hardship you find yourself in. It takes a certain mindset I guess. But again, a mindset is something you can cultivate by the choices you make.

As far back as I can remember, I have never actively watched the news or read the newspaper. The few exceptions were when I was in college, taking a journalism course and other times when I heard there was a heartwarming story.

My father and sister, especially, and others were always blown away that I usually had no clue what's going on in the World. And there were times when they became quite angry because I chose to be ignorant to the "horrible/bad" things that were happening.

I've even had others scream at me and try to pound my childlike visions out of me, to prove to me that the World is a horrible place and there are really bad people out there. I have to admit, after a while of enduring that, I did get sucked into believing the same and somewhere along the way, I lost that childlike vision. Though I still refused to watch the News, haha.

It's taken many years of un-brainwashing myself to get back to innocence, to once again see the beauty. I'm not ignorant to the negativity around me, I just choose to ignore it and emanate positivity instead. I choose to see, focus on, the light through the darkness, and to focus on the blessings.

I don't believe the World is broken, nor do I believe life is hard. I see the World as a beautiful everchanging environment that we give life to, meaning to. It can be hard, if we believe it to be, or it can be full of wonder and blessings, if we believe that to be.

The way I see it is that World is evolving. There is night and day... that simple phenomena proves to me, and is the Universe's way of showing me, that even though there is darkness, there will always be light! The same holds true for Life.

I'm sorry to hear about your bad experiences. I had thought I was agreeing with you and stating some specific ways to minimize stress I am aware of. Where do you feel I am arguing for limitations?

No need to feel sorry, I didn't share that to get sympathy but to make a point clear.
As for arguing for limitations, I got that from you entire post. The "It is possible but not when...", making it conditional and dependent on external factors.
Maybe you didn't mean to imply that.

I've been sayin' basically the same thing for years.

If you think about it...the only thing you actually 'know' is what is happening around you right now as you can experience it first hand. Everything else is a testimonial of what other people are experiencing, at best and a bunch of hearsay and gossip at worst.

In this day and age of instant gratification and instant information we are 'programmed' to react to events and conditions which do not directly affect us in real-time.

Many people live in a perpetual state of "It could be ME". "What if that happens to ME?" increases real-time stress over events and conditions that are not and may never affect you personally.

I used to watch NEWS twice a day and listen to broadcast radio news at work. I worried about a lot of stuff that never actually happened to me. I spent hard earned money on things I really didn't need (the only time I fired up my home generator was during maintenance schedule). I did the whole 'prepper' thing including armed bug-out bag and caches.

The "world" IS a scary place!
But...I've learned my little part of the world isn't a scary place, its quite pleasant, very peaceful. If power goes out in a hurricane I don't NEED a generator, candles and charcoal will do what I need. The last hurricane, a cat 3, lost power for 6 days. Guess what...I survived just fine. A bit quiet and I missed watching movies but survival wasn't that difficult.

I've heard people say they can't get rid of the stress in their lives. That's not true. Thing is, you have to WANT to get rid of the stress in your life. The first step is to stop WORRYING about stuff you have no direct control over. Stop FEEDING the drama. START looking for and recognizing the good things which happen in your life every single day.
You don't need someone else to tell you because you are actually living it.
For the things which are within your direct control that are messing with your contentment, only you can make the changes needed. If you're not sure what to do, stop worrying about all that other crap and set your mind where it should be, on your contentment.

Live in the moment, the right here / right now.

SparklingCrystal, I didn't get the impression you were vying for sympathy. I'm just sorry for anyone's bad experiences.

I did not mean to imply that it's not possible. I love what you wrote.