I stopped watching the news several years ago when I realised it was having a direct impact on me that was less than favourable. Before then, I would spend the evening with the news as background noise, but it left me feeling in many ways deflated. Initially, I thought I was doing the right thing – educating myself on the affairs of the world. Staying in the loop, if you will. The trouble was I wasn’t just watching and reading and hearing this negative edged press; I was taking it on like baggage.
Information Is Key
I’d never want to be ignorant of what’s going on in the world. Information is, of course, key, and it’s important to know what’s happening around us. However, there was a common theme amongst the articles and stories; it was told in such a horrifically negative tone it was literally sucking the life from my soul. That might sound dramatic, but I would feel physically exhausted from it. There was never a positive spin or story or idea. It was all hate and worry and, quite frankly, misery.
This wasn’t just the world news either it filtered right down into the local tabloids, where it was a torrent of neighbour disputes, burglaries and antisocial behaviour. There wasn’t one positive word between the pages. The thing is, you could say that if things are negative, then, of course, the news would be negative to reflect that – except that wasn’t my experience. So yes, of course, negative experiences were happening, but there were also positive ones too, yet these weren’t reflected in the news articles. It was frustrating but mostly I was left feeling worried and anxious.
One day I said enough is enough, and I stopped reading and watching the news altogether. If it flashed on the TV, I would switch the channel. I stopped looking at newspapers, and if I scrolled on social media and saw an article, I swiped right by.
The Effects Were Incredible
After doing this for less than a week, I felt so much lighter. I worried that I’d be uninformed, but I knew that if there were newsworthy of hearing about, then I would, of course, hear about it. It was in many ways liberating when friends and family would ask if I’d read or heard of some adverse event, and I could answer, “No, I don’t read the news.”
There isn’t an absence of anything in my life from not partaking in this charade. A lot of the news stories I was reading were exaggerated or false entirely anyway. It doesn’t mean I don’t care what’s going on in the world or that I am precious about hearing anything not positive I just don’t need to allow it the opportunity to consume me anymore. When it impacts your mood and demeanour, then it’s time for a break.
Do you currently watch or read the news? How does it make you feel? How do you balance staying informed with looking after your own vibration?
