i wake up every morning around the same time, with the same routines, just like everyone else. I hit the snooze button three to five times, to give myself less than ideal time to prepare for the day, but it's this delicate process that motivates me to get out of the bed so quickly in the first place. With cobwebs in the brain, I turn the hot water nozzle in the shower on full blast - the choke for getting the motor accepting of fuel. After a combination of both towel and air drying, I grab clothes, change, brush the teeth, brush the hair, and finally make my way downstairs to the kitchen. I skip the breakfast and instead go straight for the coffee - ahh, fuel. I'll sit down for a few minutes, tinker with the iPhone, browse the web - looking to see what's happening in the world.
it's here, in the last bit of the routine that I want to focus. While scanning the morning news, I'm constantly thinking about what the point even is of doing so? I mean, if you look at 95% of online news journals, television news reports, magazines, blah blah blah, etc. I'm willing to bet you'll see very quickly what's being implied here. Murders, rapes, arrests, terrorist attacks, financial collapses, wars, kidnappings, lawsuits...
...not much in the way of hope there is it? So, why is it that we crave that information? What makes it so important for us to hear about something negative, talking about negative things, and seeing negativity first-hand? Curiosity? Is it alluring for the simple fact that it's something different, because it disrupts the natural order of things? I suppose it could be. It's probably a lot of things. I'm much more interested in the long-term effects of these negative catalysts. We know that prolonged exposure to the sun's ultraviolet rays makes us increasingly susceptible to skin cancer. We also know that by wearing a strong sunscreen with a high SPF it will greatly reduce that risk. The point here is simple. People are solution driven. We solve problems to make life easier, better.
i can't tell you what long-term exposure to negative news ads, etc. has on an individual, but I do know how I feel. Sad, afraid, angry, tormented, depressed, sunken - unhappy. I often find myself thinking about what it must be like to have a career in journalism or broadcasting; how hard it must be on the emotions, the confusing feelings because your empathetic, but you're paid to be otherwise. So again, why do we subject ourselves to slow torture? There's a whole slew of possibilities that stem from this, take for instance: Is it possible that by subjecting ourselves to negativity for extended periods of time, we're ultimately changing the human brain - at the cellular level, the perception of life, the chance of being happy? Absolutely! Without a doubt, look what's happening already, more and more people are having difficulty getting themselves happy. We take happy pills because we're told that genetically when some of us were born, we unfortunately just, born "being sad" because someone in our family was. The normal way of living in today's world more times than not, is that you're ultimately going to be unhappy the majority of your life. Why? Does it come down to personality? The way you view the world? How you let outside influences affect your life? Yes, yes, yes.
The subject here seems grim, and to a point yes, but the solution is simple and straightforward. In its simplest form, it's a matter of not doing something that you don't like. If you don't like mustard, don't eat mustard. Voila! If the news makes us feel a certain way - negatively, don't watch it, read it, or listen to it. Enjoy the things that you like doing. The more we train the brain to be happy, the happier it will stay. Live your life in a loving way. That's the message here, and that's all before 9 am.
*Disclaimer - as much I believe the news is a harbinger of negativity, I'm not suggesting you be completely unaware of what's happening in current events. Our opinions make us who we are - individuals. You should be reading and understanding what's happening in the world. After all, we do live here. I'm simply telling you that negativity is extremely contagious and should be handled with care.
A Morning Routine, Observed.
I see so much of myself here! We always focus on the negative and take the positive forces in our life for granted. People often automatically revert to criticizing others people and things as it's the 'safe' option - to ciriticize is to put yourself in control, whereas to express pleasure or support for something makes you vulnerable as you open yourself up to criticism.
ReplyDeletePerhaps if we all relaxed and learned to live in a loving way like you say, we'd all be a lot happier.
Great post! Really got me thinking.