How To Cope With Bad News in the World
Leave space in your mind for beautiful thoughts!
Let’s face it. The news media will never be the bearer of good news. Think of the news media as a basket that is delivered each day to your front door. It would be nice if that basket contained all sorts of lovely things to brighten your day, give you hope, and make you feel better, wouldn’t it? Unfortunately, that is not the case. Instead, that basket usually contains the equivalent of horrible things that are dark and dirty. It contains all the evidence that can be found of the absolute worst side of humanity. Isn’t that just what you wanted to know? Don’t you wake up every morning excited to get out of bed, because you can’t wait to find out what horrible new things human beings have done to ruin themselves and the planet?
It is a well known fact that whatever occupies your thoughts contributes to how you see yourself and the world around you. In order to comprehend whatever you are reading or watching, those things must enter your conscious experience, and therefore become a part of your thinking. Headlines in the news media generally scream for your attention. Those headlines beg you to open the articles and read or watch every horrible detail that can be presented. Because the news cycle is 24/7, those details and images will be repeated over and over again. If you continue to take them in, they will eventually fill your mind, leaving no room for beautiful ideas. The fear and anxiety generated by all the bad news can overwhelm your thinking, and thereby create a negative filter through which you may view your entire life.
The world is obviously a very unstable place. Most of the events are out of the control of any one individual. If we position ourselves to require that such world events are stabilized, in order for us to feel stable as individuals, we could have a long wait indeed. So rather than being overwhelmed by such events, why don’t we take a different approach that empowers us right now? Rather than indulging in the human propensity for mass hysteria, why don’t we choose to calm ourselves instead? You can start by deciding to meditate each morning, even if it is only for 5 or 10 minutes. This gives you a chance to find your center – that quiet, calm place that exists beneath your breath. Let this be your anchor to love and reality.
Another thing that is very effective is to indulge in some form of art, whether it be drawing, painting, crafts, producing music, or otherwise. You can also spend time planning a beautiful life for yourself. Create plans that are practical and real, so that you provide yourself with something to be excited about. Look for ways to anchor your experience in something positive. Don’t confuse this idea with escapism. Escapism will only produce repression of your anxiety. We are talking about supplanting anxiety with something far better, so that anxiety doesn’t have any room to exist.
The next helpful thing that you can do is to put the nature of the news media in perspective, so that you can scan information without being overtaken by it emotionally. The following is a silly analogy, but it makes the point. If the news media was looking for groceries, here is what they would do. They would go to the produce aisle and dig through all the good tomatoes, looking for the most rotten tomato they could find. That tomato would become a headline! Next, they would extend their search to the banana aisle, and hopefully find a banana at the bottom of the pile that was really decaying. Yay! Another great headline! And if they wanted a super whopper of a catastrophe, they might be lucky enough to find a gigantic watermelon that had been left unattended for a very, very long time behind a shelf somewhere. Imagine the stir that could be created if a fruit of that size was so rotten, that it was virtually unrecognizable. Wow! That would be the mother lode of all scary headlines! Especially if they added the tag line “This could happen to you!”
You should always remember that the news media has zero interest in anything positive. They regularly comb through what is good and normal in the world, looking for the worst, most frightening stories they can find. And if they can’t find enough to really scare you, then they can always make something up. It comes in the form of what “might happen” or what “could happen”. It comes in the form of “what so-and-so thinks might happen. Maybe.” So if there is not enough actually happening to freak you out, no problem! They will just help you to entertain all of the bad things that might happen, instead. And there are plenty of quotes from kindhearted, official, and anonymous sources to help you with that fearful imagination, aren’t there?
It is always wise to be informed to a certain extent. But it is also important to stay in balance, in terms of what you are mentally willing to take in. See if you can find a balance in how you approach such information in your life. Pause for a moment and ask yourself this question: “Of all the bad news that I have taken in for the past 10 years, how much has physically touched me directly?” The chances are that it has been a relatively small percentage. Decide to limit your intake of facts that are cloaked in fear and hysteria. Look at enough to be informed, and then move on with your life. It does not help anyone if you contribute to the spread of anxiety, and allow it to be further amplified.
Leave plenty of space in your mind for beautiful thoughts. To go back to our original basket analogy, you may want to glance at the contents of the media basket on your doorstep. But you don’t have to bring it into your house. Have tremendous respect for what you allow into your consciousness. Think of your mind as your garden. Don’t allow the weeds of bad news to overtake the beauty of your creative capability. Just as you have the power to decide who comes into your house, you also have the power to decide what enters your mind.
Leave me a comment below, and tell me how you react to learning about bad news in the world. Does it affect your ability to be optimistic about your own life? What could you do to improve how you deal with this? Share your helpful ideas with us!
Thanks Saratoga for giving us a chance to look at things in a refreshing way that we may have just taken for granted. Every time I read a newspaper I am usually left with unpleasant thoughts and feelings, especially when it is something really tragic. It really is weird how we get affected by hearing bad news even if it has nothing to do with us. Like when a famous person dies, it is the talk of the town, but no one actually knew this person, kinda crazy that we focus on such negative images. I appreciate the humour you’ve used to illustrate this “serious” news. The ways that I can help myself deal with this, is by not engaging with the news when I hear of it. Instead of dwelling on this image I can choose to focus on things that put a smile on my face like pretty flowers and sunsets, I could listen to upbeat music or sing a song, I could look forward to doing some artwork and think about what I would like to draw or create. When I meditate, I can focus on everybody smiling and being truly happy.
Yes, I think it is really a matter of perspective and being clear about where you are intending to go in your own life. The more clarity you have about the kind of experience you want to create for yourself, the more conscious you are likely to be about what you allow yourself to absorb.
Thank you, thank you thank you for your example as to how media pulls out all of the negative news to sensationalize it! I forgot how all of that worked! I reacted to the news and media before this article with fear and dismay whenever I watch the news in the morning and it seemed that all there was on tv was news of wars, murders and I found myself becoming more and more apathetic as I could only take so much! Then feeling guilty for being so apathetic! Then the only other news it seems was what the latest gossip there is on the movie stars and I think is that all there is?!!! I coped by going on facebook and seeing what else people have accomplished and done, watching cute cat, dog and child videos or heartwarming videos that might touch my heart or bring a laugh. As you can see, I am a computer junkie. I know I need to change that. I admit it. I am a technoholic!
I hope that I can be more mindful that there is a whole world out there with people who are doing great things as well as people who are in the same boat as me, a slave to technology. I hope to be more mindful and to reach out more to people and put back a more human touch to life. To reach out more to my pet dog and interact with her more as she begs me to. Getting outside more while the weather is nice is another solution too. I know I spend too much time inside.
Thank you for your blogs and regular emails. It helps to reinforce in me that I need to expand my world and therefore will expand my consciousness as it is yearning to do. – Susan McDonald
You are so welcome, Susan. You make an important point about how the news stories can create an illusion that this is all there is. I think it’s because they amplify their stories by wrapping them in fear and hysteria to get people’s attention. We should also remember that their need to get our attention is probably related more to their need to sell stuff, like advertising, rather than coming from a true desire to inform the public. I also think the media outlets are in heavy competition with each other, so sometimes it might just be about who screams the loudest.
If we understand this, we don’t have to be reactive. We can be at peace, and still be informed to whatever degree we wish. This way, it’s much easier to get on with your REAL life, and as you said, bring back a loving human touch 🙂
Wow!! I love that basket analogy. It really does all come down to choice. (The next time that nasty basket is at my door, I am going to kick it. Not really, but that is what I think of our news media.) Shame on them. Shouldn’t they be trying to help the world, not hurt everyone in it.
But seriously,thank you for helping us find a way to scan news articles, but not allow the article in, so that it does not affect our consciousness. I have had a problem with this, as I would read something and become soo depressed. So then I would just give up on reading the news. But with your suggestion, I can keep informed without becoming sucked into it. Thank you Saratoga. This information is really helpful.
Kathleen
It is also much easier to have genuine compassion for those who are suffering in those stories, if you remain centered in your own life and don’t get drawn into the hype. Ironically, you can connect with those people as real human beings, and therefore understand how much the world needs your positive energy. It’s very difficult to feel compassion if you are depressed. Compassion is best felt when coming from a place of love and centeredness.
Thank you Saratoga. I have to say that when I read a news article that was unpleasant, my reaction was to completely cut off from the information all together. I was not allowing any compassion for the folks in the article. Thank you for pointing this out to me. It is really important.
Kathleen
Saratoga, thank you again for your wise words! Having this media vice grip deconstructed, and encouragement for balance & positive action is life saving! I was feeling despondent from all of the steady bad news, then just recently started to let up on the steady ‘diet’… I planted a garden, spent more time out in nature and started to reconnect more with nature, boy is that soul soothing! I am going to try meditating in the morning, I have a feeling that will bring a profound change:). Looking forward to your next post!
Yes, isn’t it interesting how you and others are sharing how the news affects you in an emotionally negative way. We have words like guilt, depression, apathy, and as you said despondency. Wow! You guys are all making such great, illustrative points! So when we allow ourselves to be emotionally manipulated by all the negative, fear-based hype, we lose sight of ourselves as loving, creative beings.
It’s great that you chose to do something that you consider “soul soothing”. I love that phrase! The next step that you can take to elevate that even further is to position yourself with clarity when you hear the news. Then rather than feeling that you have to heal the emotional damage that occurs when you take it in uncensored, you are able to hear it differently. You understand the hysterical filter that the media communicates through, and don’t take that filter on as your own. I hope this helps!
Saratoga, yes thank you! That absolutely helps, and it feels a whole lot more empowering. These are just amazing points being made here. The media is such a big one, so to have clarity here is immensely important, thank you again!
Thank you so much for sharing this wonderful way of perceiving the news media. Even though I had stopped reading the newspapers on a daily basis, I realized this morning that I was still using the local radio station as my “alarm” in the mornings, which meant that I was taking in the news in that format! I am definitely going to make a change in that routine!
I also love your suggestions about spending time creating a beautiful life for myself and to make it practical. I decided to do this throughout the day whenever I feel out of sorts, or stressed, or confused, and amazingly enough, it works! Filling my mind with beautiful thoughts has shifted my mood, brought light to soul, and clarity to my being. Thank you!
I think that many people use the news as their alarm in the morning. Kind of funny, isn’t it? The news is all about what you should be “alarmed” about! Kind of goes with “alarm clock”. So the moment you open your eyes, it’s “time to be alarmed!” Maybe we need a new name for alarm clock. That’s a really stressful word, now that I think about it 🙂
Thanks Saratoga. I found your basket and grocery store analogies both hilarious and right on the mark.
I try to view the news in the most objective way I can by noticing the instant reactions I have and reminding myself that these are exactly what the news is designed to elicit in people. This helps me pull out of the emotional mire and re-centre myself in the experience of creating a beautiful life as you have written. I also agree that it feels more uplifting to focus on the people in the “bad news” situations by sending them love and an intention that they wake up to their power as creators.
I have to admit, I laughed at the grocery store analogy myself! I’m so happy that you brought up the idea of the poor people who are suffering “waking up to their power as creators”. I’m happy you brought this up, Lucille, so that we can dispel any New-Agey ideas about this. People who are starving, people who are at death’s door, people who are imprisoned, abused, and otherwise suffering unspeakable horrors, are not exactly thinking about how they can evolve as human beings. They are not imagining such luxuries as contemplating what cool, new personal growth seminar they will next attend. They are desperately trying to survive.
If you are a young child living in a forced labor camp through no fault of your own, and your parents have perhaps been tortured and killed by your perpetrators, you are not in any position to lay back in the flowers and work on the beautiful life that you have the power to create. In fact you are probably so emotionally traumatized, hungry, and without love, affection, and nurturing, that your mind could be entirely turned off, and you are functioning more or less as a machine, in total fear, due to your horrific circumstances.
Why am I saying this? For everyone reading, this is not about Lucille. Lucille, you have just provided me with a fantastic opportunity to make a significant point. (So thank you!) Part of the reason that this planet struggles to evolve is because of the unrealistic, fantastical “unicorns and fairies” view that so many metaphysically oriented people take. If we all get very real for a moment, aren’t these types of New Age views really an insult to the people who are truly suffering? Doesn’t it show our utter detachment from their real situation? Which then does not allow us to have true compassion, does it?
This is why, as Telstar, we constantly promote everything we do as being about planetary evolution. You have to take into account the root cause as to why conditions like pain and suffering exist at all. Why are such things even possible? There is not enough space here for me to go into this even further, so let me just say this. Perhaps we can consider it our responsibility, as people who have the luxury of getting our tea, relaxing, and reading blogs such as this, to take our own evolution very seriously. We do have the physical, mental, and emotional capability to wake up to our power as creators. We can take a stand for the people who are unable to take a stand of their own. We can turn the tide of human evolution, beginning with our own lives.
So thank you, Lucille, for giving all of us this opportunity to take a deeper look at such things.
Much love to you! XXOO
This is great! I’m so glad we are talking about this subject. In my case, I have to admit that I have just been pretty much ignoring the basket for a while now. When a particular news story does come to my attention, it can be pretty surreal at times. About the only time I get the basket these days is when I’m driving and listening to the radio. I think there’s definitely an opportunity for me to find a little more balance towards being wisely informed. 🙂
That said, I feel that I am less negatively impacted by the news these days than I used to be. When I do hear about something particularly negative, I often try to remember that the people who are acting in particularly destructive or unconscious behaviour are likely clinging desperately to some mistaken belief that they can control everything around them and that everything will be better if they only can do this. Another thing I try to remind myself is that the Earth is in a process of evolution and they are just stubbornly attempting to resist this. I think that helps put it in some kind of perspective for me.
I really like your idea of connecting with those who are suffering and doing so from a place of love and centeredness. I think it’s what we all feel naturally drawn to do on a very human level. For me, that sense of depression you mentioned has gotten in the way pretty much every time. Kind of like it’s on autopilot or something. Interesting, that. 🙂
Next time I see that basket, I’m going to remain centered and try to feel a sense of compassion for those who are suffering. That feels like a positive thing to do!
(Also, I totally agree about the heavy competition in the news media. It explains to me why “everything is so crazy all the time” – because it’s by design! I think if I were to remember this, it would also be very helpful.)
Avalon, what you said about that sense of depression getting in the way of feeling compassion in such a naturally human way is such an important point when talking about the news media. As we can see from everyone’s comments here, if you don’t take the nature of the media into account, you can be drawn into a morass of negative emotion. That negative emotion will then send a person into an emotional survival mode. Ironically, the last thing on your mind in this case will be the plight of everyone else in the world, as you rightly try to deal with your own now-damaged emotional state.
And I also agree with you that the people who are doing terrible things to others are absolutely functioning from a misguided belief about what they think they want, and how to get it.
Hey everyone! I just saw a beautiful story in the news. It involves a gorgeous photograph of a young Syrian girl in a refugee camp in Lebanon. She had just lost her parents and her whole family, and yet wrote the word “Love” on her hand in English and in Arabic. This photo was taken by an amazing woman photographer named Mimo Khair. This photo completely captures the truth of all human beings. We simply yearn for love.
Go to this link if you want to see it. http://blog.flickr.net/en/2014/09/05/moments-of-emotion-from-around-the-globe/
Wow! What a beautiful story! Wouldn’t it be great if uplifting stories like this caught on in the news media? Thanks so much for sharing this, Saratoga.
Saratoga, you come up with the best images! Since I read about the rotten vegetables, it has given me a differnent perspective from which to listen to the news on the radio. Now, I feel that I can listen for the facts, and discard the emotional heightening the broadcasters add to it. I have also become very attuned to the made up stories designed to create fear, such as all of the pre- 9/11 anniversary stories going on here in the DC area. They are all about what could happen, and these used to really get to me. With my new awareness, I now pause, say to myself, “this is just made up”, and I discard it rather easily without becoming perturbed.
A few moths ago, I began a daily journal practice. Each night before bed, I write either 3 good things that happened that day, or 3 things for which I am grateful. This practice has had an amazing cumulative effect upon me, because it trained my mind to scan for the positive throughout the day. It puts me in a positive upward spiral, grounding me in my own experience, and I feel less able to be pulled off center by the news. Thank you!
Ann, I love what you said about your daily journal practice. What a great idea! I especially love the part about how it trains your mind to look for the positive throughout the day.
I know what you mean about the 9/11 anniversary stories in DC. I think the news media is hyperventilating for a new, scary story to boost their ratings. If they don’t have one, then instead they can encourage you to create an imaginary story in your mind. Wow! Then you can have an imaginary experience of what it would be like if it really happened. Gee – that’s productive!
All these things are true. In light of these facts about how we are overwhelmed daily with the worst side of humanity in the form of news media, I have become highly selective about what I let in to my consciousness. When I get up in the morning I try to meditate–clear my mind and ground my consciousness–so that I can be true to myself and honour the truth of my own existence. I have also been practicing the art of Tonglin, which is that I can still see some of the terrible things that are occurring and accept them through my heart and give out my love and good energy back to certain situations, if I feel clear to do so. It’s not about condoning the horror, but I can’t ignore that it is a reality on this planet. And I do live here. The best thing I can do is monitor my own thoughts and actions, and in order to do that, I must work at being conscious moment to moment.
I greatly appreciate this forum of expressions. And everyone’s perspective is wonderful to share!
So thank you, Saratoga, for creating this profound opportunity!
Much love… Leigh
I agree with you, Leigh, that this is all about balance and remaining conscious in a productive way. It’s about having the inner strength to be awake to the facts, without being intimidated by the media. That is the only way to remain centered, conscious, and loving throughout.
Hello, Conscious Friends… I just wanted to share a poem I wrote a week ago which is aligned with the issues Saratoga has brought to light here….Saratoga, thank you for acknowledging my daily work…. a moment-to-moment endeavour. Amazing that it’s something I have to work on all the time, given the influences.
THE MAGIC OF EXISTENCE – [September 3rd]
__________________________________________
Taking stock of
Heaven all over the place
Everywhere speaking beauty and truth.
Making the most of the moment
As I engage with the
Great and terrible, as best I can without harm to my
Internal being, because that
Cost is too large for me to bear.
Overcoming pain and sadness is my
Full time job these days.
Each moment is showing me
Exactly what I need to do,
In the only way that aligns with
Sound knowledge in light of reality,
Thoughtfully seeing and seeking everything as
Experience that I use to integrate, in whatever ways work.
No longer buying in to lies or illusion, as I
Choose
Every day, until I don’t have to.
c Copyright 2014 – Leigh Ulrich
Thank you, Leigh. That’s beautiful. I especially love the first three lines. Those three simple lines comprise a gorgeous poem all by themselves!
Hi Saratoga… your feedback is so appreciated. This journey is really different when I stay conscious. Subtle, but so powerful. I’m beginning to create, as if I’m becoming a nucleus of creative energy and it needs to find its way out–aware of everything that’s so horrific but not attached. Trying to send light into the world as much as I can.