After a few minutes of watching parents killing kids, lovers killing partners, drug dealers selling stories, random shootings and all sorts of political fighting, I have realised watching sensationalised TV news will quickly put to an end any hope of being an optimistic, positive human being.
Einstein said, “The most important decision a man will ever make is whether he lives in a friendly universe”.
I think what he was getting at was how you believe the world around you operates is how you interpret the things that happen to you every day, a bit like the old ‘glass half full’ saying.
It turns out, people who believe they live in a friendly universe are looking for opportunity at every turn. People who believe they live in an unfriendly universe look to be persecuted. They live in fear, and fear is the enemy of just about everything healthy.
There are many studies showing how health is massively affected by fear or stress. And none of them are positive.
Many news directors have made a choice that is understandable in our capitalistic system. They want to attract as many people as they can so they can get the most money possible for the commercials that run within their broadcasts. And so, as many a young reporter is told from day one, “if it bleeds, it leads,” meaning the bigger the tragedy the better the story it will make.
Well at least there is a simple answer to this one. If it’s making you angry or your gut churn to watch the lead story, Turn it off! That’s what bad health feels like. If I wouldn’t want my six-year-old to watch something, why do I need to watch it?
He still thinks the world is a great place full of lots of good people, he’s got the time and energy to be creative and positive all the time and that’s a great healthy place for him to be in. Now call me naïve but I think I’m want to be in the same place.
