I’m a news junkie. I love to know what’s going on, to understand current affairs and to know who’s who in politics and foreign affairs. I feel cut off if I don’t get a regular fix. I’m also very aware, however, that a lot of the news presented to us by the media is extremely negative. Stories about atrocities, war, famine and scandal are deemed more newsworthy than accounts of happy, positive events.
Worse still, when something happens that seems on the face of it to be positive, the media always seems to seek out a negative spin. We can see this so clearly at the moment with the impending Olympic Games. I am finding it difficult to tease out exciting, optimistic news about the events, athletes and planned celebrations from the mire of conspiracy theories, criticism and blame. I do want to be informed, and I think we have a right to know, for example, about the G4S scandal, but I don’t want my head filled with this dismal fare to the exclusion of the real purpose of the Games.
We can’t just blame the media, though. I expect the TV, radio and newspapers are simply mirroring the way we behave as a society. I live in a large village and it’s easy to find out what’s going on: who has died, who is getting divorced, and whose teenage child is in trouble. The happy news takes much longer to filter through, however. Every day people are falling in love, getting married, having babies, celebrating success and achieving amazing feats, but this is not the sort of information that travels like wildfire. We prefer to hear about tragedy, scandal and misery!
What can we do about it? Well, it’s a start just to recognise this and to limit our intake of negative news. I’ve tried recently to expose myself only to enough news media to keep me informed, and then to turn to more positive or edifying articles or programmes. I’m also trying to include more positive subjects and fewer negative ones in my conversations with others. Habits: bad ones can be damaging but the good news is they can be changed! I also love to imagine all the good things that are happening around us, that we just don’t happen to know about. We hear so much about loss, tragedy and grief that it’s easy to imagine this all around us, affecting households all over the country. But there are also people everywhere waking up to the best day of their lives, asking themselves “what is it?” in a wondrous way, then excitedly remembering what they are so happy about. This is a great daydream to cultivate.
I need to be informed, and I choose to be politically involved and engaged in some very serious campaigns. But what is the point in caring about people, society, the planet, if I then allow myself to absorb all the misery and become negative, grouchy and pessimistic? So I’m now choosing to spend more time focussing on the joy, enthusiasm and happiness that is all around us if we look for it. The best that life has to offer instead of the worst. Join me?
