AVOIDING NEGATIVITY

There is one area of negativity though, that we can exert some control over in our lives. This is the negativity that we willingly allow into our homes through our electronic devices.

Really watch television news, read the magazines, and read the newspapers for a while, and see just how much negativity you are exposed to in those ways. Reports in all three are getting more and more graphic all the time, as if they have to compete with the slasher films in the theaters. Pictures of bleeding and dead bodies fill the TV screen, the magazines, and the newspapers on a daily basis.

They tell us what is going wrong in the world, how we are going to live shorter lives than we hoped, how the economic situation is worsening (or will worsen), on and on. It seems that only bad news sells, for that is basically about the only kind of news one is exposed to anymore.

As if this wasn't enough, now in this age of telecommunication, our computers can add to this barrage of negative events, telling us about the headlines from the world over, about rioting, starving, killing, looting, and like activities. If we try to turn for some solace to music we begin to run into certain kinds that feature death and mayhem as a standard. Heavy metal and some rap music seem to be getting more and more violent and negative all the time.

Just to make sure someone young isn't saying right now to themselves, "all old fuddy-duddys complain about our music", let's point out that traditional folk music features song after song about death, cheating on one's loved one, and similar unpleasant events. (Nor is country music much more positive).

So we are exposed to a barrage of electronically-carried negativity in our own homes.

BUT

There also arises this question: How can we be an informed voter and consumer if we don't know what is going on in the world? How can we make intelligent decisions if we don't know all the facts? And knowing the facts generally exposes us to TV, radio, magazines, computers, and music-increased negativity.

Thus, we need to know. But to know is to open ourselves to negativity. What can we do?

One thing is to realize that we don't have to be experts on events. To have a general knowledge is good. but no one is requiring us to watch every newscast, read every magazine, and every newspaper. You don't have to immerse yourself in the negativity.

So first, come up with a reasonable way to be informed, but not inundated. Limit the amount of television news coverage you watch each day to perhaps one half-hour newscast (CNN is very good on news, but also can be very graphic on photos). You don't have to buy four papers a day. Getting your local paper will let you know anything of local interest you need, and will give you another view on the world's events.

You don't have to read all the major news magazines. In point of fact, you don't have to read any of them. Watching one news report a day (if that much), and getting one local paper a day should pretty much keep you up on what you need to know.

Also, there are other things that you can do. Carefully go through the TV guide and other television program guides so you don't end up watching a movie "just to see what it's like" and then be grossed out by excess violence. Be selective in everything you watch on television, and on everything you read.

Further, the use of smudging is very beneficial here. If you feel you have been exposed to too much negativity for the day, smudge yourself, your house, and your electronic devices such as your TV and your computer. Visualize any excess negativity going down into Mother Earth to be neutralized.

A third thing to do is to do something you really enjoy and that gives you lots of pleasure after watching the newscasts, or reading the paper. Don't let the negativity linger in you and don't let it build up.

You can choose how much you open yourself to. You do not have to be an expert on everything in the world. Just be informed; there is no need to be drowned in a sea of negativity.