When I was younger, I saw my parents and some of my friends watching, reading and listening to the news, all the time. I thought it was important.
As I started noticing my feelings more and more in my late teens, I realized that the news had an extremely negative effect on me. I’m sure you’ve noticed this too?
I know across the pond you guys have all kinds of alerts on T.V that are meant to induce fear and get you, well, on alert. Most of the news are something you can’t do anything about.
For me, most of the news is useless. It’s garbage. Why do you feel the need to read about people dying in Africa? It doesn’t change anything. It only makes you feel bad.
Keeping these dying people in your mind and feeling bad doesn’t have a positive impact on humanity. In fact, it probably has a negative one, since we’re all affected by each others thoughts.
Instead of reading about the news, feeling like you’re doing something and feeling bad–take action, donate or volunteer.
Throwing Out the News
If you’ve been consuming the news your whole life, you’re probably not entirely open to what I am saying. But you’re still reading, so some part of you wants to know more.
When I first realized how the news was affecting me, I tested it out. I wanted to see what the difference was in not consuming any news at all for 30 days.
For the first few days, I felt this urge to learn what was going on in the world. I wanted to stay updated. Have you experienced this? What is the need for it? Why do we need to know everything going on?
It’s almost as if I was looking for a fix. The news gives you a rush because it’s dripping in fear. Drinking your morning coffee and reading the news, is there a better way to wake up in the morning?
You feel the caffeine and adrenaline surging in your body. That could get addictive after a while, don’t you think? It kind of reminds you of checking your e-mail, blog traffic stats or adsense earnings every few minutes, doesn’t it? 
Although I don’t drink coffee, this is the pattern I noticed within myself. As time went on, the urge subsided and I started feeling happier. When you on a 30-day fast from the news, you’ll see how much you can improve your life by eliminating unnecessary information.
Recycling Fear
Fear sells. Look at the headlines in the news. They’re all about fear. They make you feel like something bad is about to happen if you don’t buy the newspaper or tune in on the 6 o’ clock news.
If you buy the newspaper, they try to keep you subscribed, because tomorrow something even more horrible will happen, and you have to know how to avoid it.
It’s a ridiculous circle of fear. As more and more people realize that they don’t have to put up with this, the newspapers will die, which is exactly what is happening now (oh and also a bit because of the internet).
I have eliminated all irrelevant news from my life, which is about 99%. If something happens that requires my attention, my intuition will let me know. A good example is the Haiti disaster.
I don’t follow the news, so I had no idea what was going on. I just knew that it was something big, but I ignored it, because it didn’t attract my attention.
After about a week I ended up on Hope for Haiti’s website through Jordan’s blog. At which point I donated what I could to the cause. As you can see, if you’re needed, you will be directed to where you need to be, but you have to listen to yourself first.
Intuition
Reading the news and swimming in fear is not going to help enhance your intuition. I’ve started going from an analytical approach to a more intuitive one when making my decisions.
Sometimes I’m wrong, but often I’m right and everything works out well. I have built up trust for my intuition over the years. Mainly through feeling something and then reading about it and seeing that I was right.
You don’t have to follow your intuition if you don’t want to, but you can always pay attention to what it is telling you. Look at your intuition as a light. Most people are surrounded by heavy fog, which symbolizes your feelings, beliefs and thoughts.
As you start changing your beliefs, eliminating the clutter and trusting yourself, the fog slowly disappears and the light shines through. Your intuition is always there, you just have to clear the way.
The Positive Skew
The news doesn’t report on all the good stuff that happens in the world. Imagine if there had to be a 50/50 split on everything in the news. Every other day the front page would be positive.
Instead of “500 killed in car accident” it would say “500 lives saved” or “squirrel befriends cat”. The news automatically imply that the world is negative, because most of the news is negative. And that is how your mind interprets it.
If you’re an avid news consumer, ask yourself this: how different would your day be if you started by reading something positive, instead of something negative?
I’m not saying to ignore all the negative and live in airy fairy land. I’m talking about being practical. When you take a good look at most of the news you read, can you really do anything about it? What is your purpose for consuming it? Is it just to pass time?
I’ve discovered that in my own life, I function a lot better without reading the news, because it isn’t relevant to my life at all. Your mileage may vary, but the concepts stay the same.
How to Stop the Addiction
A low information lifestyle brings freedom into your life. Instead of your thoughts being dictated by the news, you now have complete control (unless you’re on twitter).
In my life it has helped me raise my vibration, or to put in non new agey terms, it has helped me be more positive and solve problems with more clarity.
I’m not going to try to force a list on you, because stopping a news addiction is so simple. I personally went cold-turkey. No more news. Instant freedom.
I was able to see the change immediately. If you like taking it gradually, then go for it. You can easily start reducing your news-time by a few minutes a day and you’ll be completely free within a matter of weeks.
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Now I’m curious about your experiences. How has the news affected your life? Or if you’re already news-free, how and why did you make the decision?
Image by Hunter Williams
{ 16 comments }
Henri,
I’ve taken the news largely out of my life over the last 2 years. I’ve read this same advice in many self help books and I think you bring up a great point. The news fuels the social matrix along with other media. Celebrity Gossip/Celeb Retarded behavior conditions people to want things that they have and forget that happiness is internal.
The news, especially early morning or late night is the the worst thing you can put in your head since that’s right before you sleep and right when you wake up. Those are the two times your brain is most susceptible to new info. Awesome post
Realizing that happiness comes from the inside can sometimes be tough. It’s easy to go “well yes, but what if you had no money and no friends, would you be happy then?” and that’s a hard question. I certainly don’t know how I would act in that situation.
But I do know this: the people that are happy and focus on the positive things are people that solve problems and people that bounce back fast.
To tell you the truth, I’ve been news free. I never really watched or listened to the news. If I hear something on the radio that’s one thing but I actually never ever watch any TV, literally. I watch movies and TV shows that I have on DVD and such but never see the news and I’m doing just fine.
I’m honestly with you on this, Henri.
If something is very important I will eventually hear about it because I’m meant to. News doesn’t bother me one bit because I simply don’t let it.
Congratulations on being free from the news
Sounds like you’re doing things much like myself. I don’t even have a TV at the moment, because I sold mine in Sweden and moved to Spain. The only thing I watch are DVDs and movies. If something is important I get it through my social circle.
news as the fear engine is an evil and despicable thing but news to inform the populace in a democratic (or even semi democratic) nation is a moral necessity. here in the United States we are asked to have an opinon on how we should be governed and how our nation should interact with the rest of the world. When the populace is uninformed then we as a nation make bad decisions. Unfortunately to day we react and interpret news not through intlect and reason but from emotion and reflex.
we tune out and turn away from what we see as scary and sad, from the things we feel we can not effect. As we stop screaming for change the voice of the group gets softer and softer and you come to a place were rather then us yelling directions to those public servants we have chosen to represent us on the world stage they are barking orders back at us. It is not just the news that is to blame for this situation but most media has stopped being about what the creator feels and instead focuses on creating an emotion in the consumer.
I’m definitely think that we should have opinions and work towards a better world, which is a whole other subject from most of what is going on in the news that is only distracting us from the issues at hand.
Great thoughts, Quinn!
Hi Henri
The approach that works for me is to not buy newspapers, not watch the news on TV, and not listen to it on the radio. When it takes my fancy, I skim the headlines on a news website and read only the positive stories that are of interest to me. I get a good idea of what is going on locally and globally without being bombarded by depressing or shocking details I’d rather not know about, thereby not becoming so personally involved, and still get to know about the good, positive things that are happening (yes, there are still a few).
Heya Steve,
And when you’re skimming the headlines you’re still seeing if there’s anything that requires your attention, or if you just feel like you have to read that story. There’s nothing wrong with keeping up-to-date. It only becomes a problem when taken to an extreme, or when it affects your life negatively.
I would have to agree with you Henri. I rarely watch the news or television for that matter.
I believe there is a reason for that saying “garbage in, garbage out”.
Exposure can form a mind and change a person in negative or positive ways. Most people do not really understand the power of influence television really has over a person. When I was a little kid, we never locked the doors. Now who doesn’t lock their doors anymore?
Ironically, a person has a better chance at losing their life due to a heart attack then death via murder.
But what most people don’t realize is that to listen to murder on the news gives more energy to the thought which feeds fear and creates the heart attack.
Would this economy be as crappy as it is if people weren’t constantly worried about the economy because of what the media says? The answer is no because fear now prevents people from spending money which in turns makes the economy worse.
True wisdom is knowing what exists beyond what the eyes can see.
True knowledge is not allowing oneself to be manipulated by it.
In Sweden, where I used to live, we didn’t have to lock the doors at all, but even there people are starting to lock em!
Giving energy to thoughts will only attract more of them into your life, and if you don’t believe that, then at least it will make you feel bad and change your mood, which in turn will affect how those around you perceive you.
Another point of view on the economy would be to ask “would it be so crappy if people weren’t bombarded with messages of buying and consuming all the time?”
You also never know what might come of the slightly non-optimal economic situation going on now. What if it leads to something new and amazing? You just never know!
‘Squirrel befriends cat’ awesome!
Dude, The law of attraction is my guiding, surround yourself with positive things and positivity will come your way!
Same as a traffic jam, think you’re gonna be stuck in it for hours and you will be!
RT’ing now
‘Squirrel befriends cat’ is a headline I’d like to see in the future
Yup! The Law of Attraction has become a big part of my life too, although it is largely unconscious right now. It’s all about focus and taking action.
Henri,
I don’t watch the news much anymore, simply because of how negative it is and how bad it makes me feel. How many times does good news make it? Hardly.
I tend to not watch the news much, if any at all, though I’ve caught up with the Haiti disaster. Anyway, interesting post.
I scan newspaper, rather than read newspaper. Only those articles that can improve my life are worth my time to read, particularly those “how to” articles
I don’t watch the news anymore either. Actually, we don’t have TV service. We use our TV for Netflix movies!
The internet was my source of news, and I don’t use it much for that now. I had to wean myself off of internet news, especially during the Bush presidency, because I was tied up in knots all the time, I was so angry.
I’ve gotten away from the news so much, I’m ashamed to say, that I was late hearing about the earthquake in Haiti. That really bothered me. Because of that, I try to scan the headlines a little more often.
Henri,
Excellent topic, and I definitely fall into the same group of news-avoiders. However, I am slowly tuning back in to national affairs (international to come) and really agree with Quinn’s comments here. I’ve focused on my own personal growth, integrity, and ability to take appropriate responsibility, and now I am re-visiting my ideas and understanding of government and society. I’m realizing my views have changed since I was younger, and I’m working to figure out how to re-align my personal with my political beliefs. I think personal is connected to societal, and I believe that change and truth of a culture all starts with its individuals. So I have a responsibility to bring what I’ve learned personally to the world and to contribute and participate in what ways I can, small to start, to generate the change I’d like to see in the world at large.
Thanks again for an excellent topic and discussion.
Linda
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