To pass the time, while waiting for an appointment the other day, I picked up a newspaper and had a quick flick through.
From the very front page, it was filled with doom and gloom;
House prices falling…
Recession hitting jobs…
Banks failing…
Murder…
Assault…
Robbery…
As I sat there thumbing my way through the pages I thought to myself; why do people buy newspapers and why do they read them on the way to work?
What sort of way is that to start your day, filling your head with negative thoughts and misery?
The last thing people need as they start their day’s work is to be downhearted and depressed!
What is it with our fascination with bad news?
As a race we seem to be so obsessed with knowing about what’s going wrong in our world, that we rarely take the time to appreciate the good.
I made a decision, there and then.
I put the paper down, took a deep breath, and decided that for the rest of the day I would focus only on the positive things in life:
The warm weather
The fresh air and the birds singing again
Helpful, happy people
A good training session
When I got home later I switched on my laptop and bypassed the bad news in search of the good;
The child stars of Slumdog Millionaire being given a fresh start in life…
The Hindhead road project which has rehomed badgers and dormice that would otherwise have perished…
The funny story about ‘Bisto’ gravy changing its name to ‘aaah… Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday’ etc!
For your health and sanity it’s important to focus on positivity. They say you become a mix of the 5 people you engage with most. If those around you are depressed, moaning and pessimistic, how long do you think it will be before you follow suit?
While we all enjoy a good gossip and a moan occasionally, I honestly believe that the media revels in bad news and misery, due to our obsession with misfortune. Bad news sells papers.
Try my ‘Happiness’ experiment…
Pick a day – any day in the coming week…
As much as you can control, avoid all bad news that day.
Don’t buy a paper, don’t listen to the news, walk away from depressive conversations and switch channels if faced with economic downturn, evil or less than positive news.
Listen to music radio instead of talk channels.
Watch a comedy on TV -something lighthearted and entertaining.
Wean yourself off the negative and focus instead on more positive things.
Without the ‘doom and gloom’ reaching your earholes you’ll be surprised how much better you feel.
Your conversations will steer towards happier topics, your mood will lift and then you’ll actually be looking for the good instead of adding more woe and sorrow to your daily thoughts.
Surround yourself with positivity and you’ll end up less stressed, less tired and more capable of spreading a positive frame of mind to others in your life.
Believe me, it’s a chain reaction.
As the musician Sting once wrote;
“Even when the darkest clouds are in the sky, You mustn’t sigh and you mustn’t cry, Spread a little happiness as you go by… Keep out the gloom, Let in the sun, That’s my advice for everyone”
February 27, 2009 at 8:48 pm |
coooooool post. i really liked it. and i agree. we are all fascinaed of negative news. I personally wathc a lot of catastrophy movies. I like them, but i understand that are wrong form me.