How often do you listen to the news? Daily? Hourly? Are you present to how does this very 'normal' activity alter your reality?
We are told we 'NEED TO KNOW'. We believe on some level that we could be in danger if we didn’t know what is happening in the world... But lets put our intelligence to work and ask ourselves some common sense questions before we agree with the above blindly. It is good to question our minds beliefs and the common 'truths' ;)
Could we, by watching or listening to the media, be in fact focusing on a snippet of what’s really happening around us? Are we moulding our belief structure, forming our reality, accordingly to what is truly going on EVERYWHERE?
How FAIR are the views of those who bring us these news?
Why is 90% of their information NEGATIVE, warning us of potential threats?
Whenever you switch on the news 9 out of 10 you hear the WORST that has happened in the past 24 hours somewhere in the world, popping out like an ugly monster of a jack in the box. How do you think this affects you?
Us, EMPATHS, suffer greatly when watching the suffering of others. With our sensitive radars, with our inner emotional awareness, we are the canaries in a coal mine, warning you of things which escape your conscious radar, yet are detrimental to your Being. You may not notice the danger you are in, and our role here on Earth is to bring your unrealised hurt to the surface.
Imagine listening to a NEGATIVE 'FRIEND' few times a day who takes our focus away from ourselves, from how WE go about our day and how WE perceive reality, from how WE LIKE TO FEEL! Our reality largely depends on where we place our attention on. Our friend is saying ‘Listen you need to know this so that you can be safe, because if I can warn you you will be better off’ Our mind says ‘If I listen to all that has happened to him/her I will be aware of potential danger and for sure better prepared.’ How many of you identify with this?? How would it affect your mood if your friends called you on FaceTime every hour to talk about the bad that has happened to them that day? You may say ‘Yeah but that is someone I know - of course it would bring me down. I would think about it for most of the day to help them out.’
But.
What happens when we hear bad news which happened far beyond our reach, beyond the scope of what we CAN do? We feel powerless... To regain a sense of control we push this information aside thinking 'God I am glad this is not me!' We somehow slip into a space of illusionary sense of safety just because we aren't physically affected. Yet this WRONG stuff is happening to another fellow human. Do you think that it doesn’t affect you on a deep, soul level? Of course it does. After all, we are ONE.
Because you cannot help actively your feeling of powerlessness locks you in a state of fear. In a state of constant worry about your own safety! About YOUR existence... That same fear is then driving your further focus and future choices. This is how those who broadcast the news warp your reality. How they steal your freedom, your peace and happiness. How fitting is the term 'breaking news'? Do you fell shocked? Outraged? You may feel powerless at this point thinking there isn't much you CAN do to change this world... To change your world.
There is something you can do, totally within your power - THE POWER OF CHOICE.
No, it may not be easy. It is, nevertheless, straightforward.
You might feel kind of anxious. Firstly because the news are your (unrealised) addiction. And like with any other addiction you will suffer withdrawal symptoms: agitation, un-ease, even emptiness, without a sense of direction. Secondly, we don’t get used to listen to ourselves and be authentic. We don't follow our own desires, our own LEADERSHIP. So just accept that it is ok to feel lost for a while. You might feel scared that by not being ‘prepared’, you are in danger, but could you be more in danger by living in a constant state of worry, which exhaust you long term by draining the energy you need to make your own, conscious choices? Claim your boundaries, expell the unwanted, protect your peace! What are you losing by re-focusing on yourself, on your own world? There is so much happening in the depths of our minds and souls. Our Being is our beautiful planet on a smaller scale, and the more we treat ourselves with self-neglect, focusing on the ‘out there’, on others, the less we feel grounded in our Being. The less we live on our ‘Earth’, and the more goes the magic and splendour of OUR ‘planet’ misunderstood... ‘We know more about the surface of Mars than the depths of our seas.’
David Attenborough
Thank you for reading. If my article contributed to understanding yourself, please be generous and share it with others.
Copyright © 2017 Michaela Patel