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Life Lessons

No News. Is Good News!

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stop watching the news
Give it a shot, stop watching. What do you have to lose but fear?

I am tremendously grateful for a conscious decision I made  about four years ago to stop watching the national news and leaving the fear mongering and celebrity worship behind.

I don’t seem to be missing out on anything positive and am just as informed as I always have been, but the real benefit is the fact that I have not been subject to the consistent stream of negativity that comes from any of the national news outlets.  I think  this enables me to be happier on a daily basis.

Haven’t Missed a Thing

My initial reluctance to giving up my news addiction was that I would no longer be properly informed about current events.  Yet, using this week as an example, I am media_monkeysadequately informed about all of Donald Trump’s foolishness and how he and Hillary Clinton fared in their latest debate.   What I don’t have to deal with is the feeling the national media tries to build in you, that the world is going to end because of it. So be very, very afraid.

I have a hint for all of you, we will all still be here tomorrow and then the story will be something else and life will continue on.  It is not that I am apathetic to the plight of our nation and the fact that our politicians are really just highly paid corporate sell outs. It is a fact that as a conscious human being living on the planet, I recognize manipulation and brainwashing when I see it.

I don’t need the national media to fan those flames of fear.  Most often the fears they use are designed to get you to watch more and for the media to make more money from advertising.  With today’s lightning-quick social media, you learn of news without moving an inch, simply by looking at your phone you see today’s events and happenings as they are unfolding. There is no need for a media narrative to tell you how to think.

I am grateful that I can leave it there.  I am sad for those who experience loss, I am sympathetic to those who suffer, but I do not let it consume my life because then I would never be able to contribute to a cure.

Being an Individual Is Hard Today

By not watching the national media and blindly absorbing the version of that story they feed me, I have found that I am much more clearly able to form my own opinion about events.

By looking at how I actually feel about something, I can more readily create ideas that are uniquely mine.  If we blindly follow the thoughts and presentations of others, we are doomed to have no unique and creative thought toward problem-solving.  Being an individual today is difficult because if you don’t think exactly like someone else, then you are going to be ridiculed. This is the first step in forced conformity, to discourage individual thought and force people to accept the “right” opinion about things. Isn’t our education system based on this practice? Learn how I tell you and don’t think for yourself.

Nothing to Fear But Fear Itself

Don't fear the media
The media works hard to keep you afraid. The choice is yours

The national media makes people feel like there is something wrong with them if they don’t feel like they say you should.  Shouldn’t you be afraid of terrorism? Shouldn’t we dislike those who are different from us?  Shouldn’t we fear everyone we don’t know?  The questions go on and on, but the reason is simple.  If you are afraid you are easily controlled and if you are free thinking and problem-solving, there is no telling what you might do. You might even find a better alternative than listening to the Today Show.

Most people in the world are good, honest people who are kind to others, polite and helpful.  People do amazing things each and every day to help other people live a better life.  These actions aren’t often covered in the media because even though they are nice, they don’t grab attention.  Fear grabs attention and it doesn’t let go.  But once you leave that fear behind, you can enjoy life a little bit more.

You May Be the Answer

So today I am grateful for the conscious decision I made about five years ago to stop watching the news and to form my own opinions about the world. I encourage you to find your own path as well.  Who knows the answer to many social problems facing the world today could be solved by you.  It is up to you to decide to be your own person and think for yourself.

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Avoiding the Negative Media

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Avoiding the Negative Media

news boycott
Stop watching the “News.” They lie.

It was about four years ago that I had had enough. No matter what was happening globally, it seemed the media had to spend its time spreading fear, unhappiness or promoting programs on their network of stations that even further spread fear and unhappiness.  Enough was enough, and I tentatively started my own personal news boycott to avoid the negative media and their effects on me.

The news boycott is for all national news shows no matter what time they are on because they are focused on the most negative aspects of life. You miss nothing because the news cycle is, all the same, continually telling you how to feel, who to trust and who to dislike. A tragedy of some kind occurs, and they will milk it as long as possible. Gossip is close enough to the news.  Skipping this daily barrage of negativity, you would think that I would not be able to keep up with current events or news, but that has not been the case. With Facebook, Twitter, and the radio, no major news event has gone by without me knowing almost immediately. What I got to miss was all of the wallowings in anger, gossip, ridicule, and fear-mongering that the national negative media pours onto every “news story” they cover.

A great example would be the theater shootings that took place in 2012. I heard about it, though it was awful, felt sympathy for the victims, and understood that this guy (the shooter) was obviously disturbed. “Normal” people don’t do things like that.

What I didn’t do is wallow in it. The national negative media tried to dissect the perpetrator’s life and try to understand why he would do such a thing. Talking to everyone from classmates in college and kids he went to high school with.  I only know this by what others have told me, so I can’t report any first-hand knowledge of these interviews. I know that my life has been much more positive without that negative media machine spouting their “news.”

Pay Attention to the Positive ignore the Negative Media.

Every day there are positive stories of people doing good deeds and helping others live more positively. However, these stories do not even gain a mention in the vicious negative news cycle.  There are, in fact, many more good people than bad in the world. More good things are happening than bad.  There is just no money in reporting that things are great and wonderful.  Only partial blame belongs to the media because they just provide what the market will tune in to see.  A celebrity dies, nude pictures of celebrities, the public figure takes a fall, murder, terrorism are all topics that draw you in, and you watch incessantly.  So until we all stop watching, there is not going to be any significant change.

Never Been More Sure of News Boycott

Since the beginning of mass media, the practice of propaganda has been developed to control public opinion. The national media has become very skilled in telling you what to think, who to trust and who to hate. Whenever the world is split into us against them mentality, odds are, you are being manipulated.

In this election season, I have never been surer that my news boycott has become permanent as the silly election season moves into high gear. There is an inundation of false, negative, idiotic campaign ads that do little to inform but much to scare or frighten. We can sum them up into two categories.   One is that the Republicans will ruin our country if they are elected president.  On the other side are the Democrats, who will ruin the country if they are elected. The negative media wins either way.

A snapshot of the time that negative stories are given in the TV news cycle, from Jan. 20 to April 9, 2017. Each is designed to manipulate your thoughts, cause fear and control your thoughts.

The ads are designed to make supporters mad at the opposition and experience fear about the presidential election outcome.  Personally, both options are just two different sides of the

same coin, and we will experience party politics and business, as usual, no matter who wins.  However, if you look at the ads observed in a vacuum, they are quite humorous.  Republicans hate Democrats and each other; Democrats hate Republicans but not each other; we are all stuck in the third grade listening to the negative media.

The national news shows, I am sure, are pontificating on the positives of their candidate and spewing the fear about the opponent.  Count the number of negative sentences used in an ad designed to instill fear or fear-based thinking, and it will surprise you.  Not me because the media has shown that fear sells, sensation sells, and good deeds don’t make good copy.  Practice your own news boycott, and you will feel a lot better about the world and put a dent in ending the negative media.

If you don’t use your mind to think your own thoughts, someone else will fill it with theirs. So take a moment and look at how things really are and what can really hurt you. Believe none of what you hear and only half of what you see.