No News May Not Be Good News...But It Can Be Healthier For You

Listening to negativity, and bad news, will affect your mindset.  When you keep hearing that the sky is falling, eventually you can't help but glance up once in a while to check.  Thirty years or so ago, I stopped watching the local news shows.  And yes, for my younger audience, there was TV back then...and it was in color.  

Even way back then though, there was a growing tendency to deliver nothing but bad news.  Accidents, violence, disasters.  Bad news sells!  Very little good news, other than the occasional 'human interest' story...which I think was some sort of news code phrase for something that will keep people from throwing themselves out fifth story windows.

The fact is though, that's what people want to watch.  I'm not a psychologist, so I really don't know why exactly...and I'm sure there are any number of people who would be happy to tell me precisely why that is.  Another fact is, that watching this sort of news is depressing!  I mean it makes you feel bad...feel sad...and makes you afraid to go out or leave your kids outdoors unwatched.

So I started thinking about it then and asking myself why I watched.  I realize that we all have this fascination with 'dramatic' events, whatever they are.  Why we can't not look at a car accident when we drive by.  Then I asked myself....what was I getting out of this?  Was there anything on the local news that was going to make me happier....safer....better informed about something important in my life?  Surprisingly (to me), the answer was a resounding NO!  

Granted, occasionally there might be something I needed to know.  But that rare event was not worth the psychological damage the vast majority of the news was doing to me.  And to be fair, I did (and do) get my news....just not from these local stations anymore.  I didn't go into hermit-mode.  I just found ways of finding out what I really needed to know from other sources.  

The bottom line though, is that whether it's news or the people you surround yourself with, it's best to make them as positive as possible.  Being positive doesn't mean you can't hear constructive criticism or real news.  Some of it is bound to be bad.  It just should be news that helps you make your life better, safer, more informed of things that do matter to you.  Keeping a positive outlook these days can be a challenge...don't make it harder by letting the 'bearers of bad news'  poison your well.