Pathwalking 257
It’s unhealthy to ignore the outside world completely.
We need to be aware of what is happening in the world. While there is something to be said for the bliss of ignorance, knowledge IS power.
The problem is, it can be very hard to stay focused when you are inundated with a barrage of upsetting information. How do you find and maintain a happy medium between knowing what’s going on, and being completely drowned in data?
The mistake I keep making is digging into stories, reading into Facebook and G+ posts, and really getting into the in-depth bits and pieces of certain news and reports that makes me feel sad or angry. It seems like the world is overflowing in haters, greedy pigs, delusional sociopath narcissists, gullible fools and fear. The word threat, whether to liberty, freedom, ideals or life itself is thrown out like an indefinite article. And people are eating it up, sharing and complaining and preparing to stand against, and in some cases for, possible forthcoming injustices.
Consciousness creates reality. I say this over and over again, in part simply to remind myself. If we want to spend our lives in a struggle against opposing forces, this is how we create that. Every time we take up a position of opposition, we are actually giving MORE energy to the things we DO NOT WANT. Trouble is, the Universe only understands desires and passions, and does not differentiate between want and do not want.
We cannot leave these threats unanswered. Maybe so, but can we stop standing against these things, and stand FOR their opposites? Can we choose to throw our support to good things rather than our opposition to bad? If we keep our focus on the things we do not want, the things are getting the focus, and low-and-behold, we keep getting more of them.
I created Pathwalking with the intent of seeking out and making my own way in this universe. I prefer to make my own choices, to forge my own way in the world, and to seek things that make me feel good about my life. In the current climate of the world-at-large, this is proving particularly difficult, in part because I want to still make my own way, but I also want to be ready to help my friends, my loved ones and the ideals I care about in whatever way I can.
I believe, and frequently state, that we are able to control how we feel. While I know this to be true, that doesn’t mean it’s easy. When you are constantly blanketed in negativity, awash in the tide of fear and hate and anger and frustration and perceived insanities, controlling how YOU feel becomes particularly challenging.
Then, just to add insult to injury, it’s possible to feel guilty about this. About what, you may ask? About wanting to feel good, about taking care of yourself first, before you reach out to take care of others. It is NOT selfish to care for yourself, in fact without self-care, we have nothing to give anyone else. But particularly in the face of overwhelming concerns for the greater good and outside matters, it is hard to not feel self-care is actually selfish. There are great big problems in the world, and if I do not address them I might as well just be contributing to them.
But the thing is, if you do not save anything for yourself, you have nothing really to give. A car with no gas in the tank is still a car, but you’re not going to get anywhere without fuel. You can be of no good to anyone else if you are of no good to yourself.
The question becomes, how do we take care of ourselves without being enveloped by the negativity and bad news in the world, while still remaining informed and prepared? Truth be told, I really don’t know. This has become a daily struggle for me, and then coupling it with a bit of seasonal depression it becomes that much tougher. But here are the things I am employing at the moment:
Avoid digging too deeply into news. There really is no need to read every in-depth article. Now if it’s a topic I want to be knowledgeable about, that’s one thing, but if it’s just reading deeper into an already aggravating story, why bother?
Pause, meditate, breathe. Just the other day I left work, and went to a nearby park. I stood beside the river, listening to it run over the rocks, for just a little while, and that made me feel better. We have to breathe, we have to pause, and when we can meditation calms the mind and enlivens the spirit.
Feel gratitude. Even in the face of so many disheartening things, I have much to be grateful for. From often overlooked things like breathing, hearing, seeing and smelling to possessions to people in our lives. FEELING grateful reminds us of the good things we all still have in our lives, right here, right now.
Get offline. Step away from TV, radio and other media outlets. It’s important to take time, every day, to get away from it all. Doesn’t matter if you are alone or with friends, you need to have time to just be. And not to be thinking about today’s world crisis.
It is important to stay informed, but equally important to not get drowned in negative information. If we each strengthen our own resolve and come from places of our own good, we can do far more for the world at large. I know this is not easy, but every day is new…and we deserve to not live them in misery, or fear, or any other negative emotions.
What keeps you in balance?
GOAL LOG – Week 47:
Diet: Wrestling this back under my control this last week. Getting better about tracking again.
Exercise: Two days at the gym last week. Yeah, need to get back onto this bandwagon for multiple reasons.
Writing: The three blogs got written.
Meditation: I meditated two days last week, for 6 and 9 minutes or so, respectively.
Gratitude: I wrote three to six things I was grateful for every day last week.
This is the two-hundred fifty-seventh entry in my series. These weekly posts are ideas and my personal experiences in walking along the path of life. I share this journey as part of my desire to make a difference in this world along the way.
Thank you for joining me. Feel free to re-blog and share.
The first year of Pathwalking, including some expanded ideas, is available here.
If you enjoy Pathwalking, you may also want to read my Five Easy Steps to Change the World for the Better.
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