What if I could tell you a way to improve your life significantly in one easy step that would literally take zero effort? Sound too good to be true?
Well it’s not. All you have to do is stop watching and reading the news. Seriously. Just stop.
With its sensational focus on tragedy, violence, and scandal, the news is toxic junk food for the mind. By and large it’s not relevant to our lives (don’t believe me? Take a look at any news story and ask, “How is my life better because of knowing this?”) and it feeds us a distorted picture of the world, one filled with violence, fear, and people behaving badly.
The news isn’t there to make your life better. It’s not there to inform you in any meaningful way. It’s there to entertain you and sell advertising. Period.
Here’s an article that gives the most thorough examination I’ve seen of why news is really toxic goo for your brain. Read it, but don’t stop there. Here are some ideas for creating ripples using the insights from the article.
- Share the article with everyone you know.
- Talk about it with your family.
- Get a discussion going about it on Facebook or other social media outlets.
- Do a thirty-day news fast. See how that feels. Share your experience with others.
- Better yet, do a thirty-day news fast with others. Share how it feels with each other along the way.
What you feed your brain determines how you experience the world. It creates the lens you look through, and the stories you create. The vast majority of news stories cultivate a story of fear and division.
I’ve written here about Ripple Enhancers and Ripple Blockers. Ripple Enhancers are anything that makes you more inclined to create positive ripples, or that makes those ripples stronger. Ripple Blockers are anything that makes you less inclined to create positive ripples or feeds a tendency to create negative ripples.
Guess which category the majority of news we consume is in?
If you want to create a positive environment for your brain, do a little addition by subtraction. Give your news habit the heave ho and replace the time you would spend there with something more positive and fulfilling.
What have you got to lose? (Well, besides tragedy, destruction, and scandal?)
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Brought to you by Curt Rosengren, Passion Catalyst TM
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