Adrift in a Sea of Bad News?

“I just don’t deal with the negativity. I can’t get involved in that side of it. I don’t understand it, and you can’t let it take away from your life and what you are trying to do.” — Rick Pitino 

I read an article that stated ‘negativity sells’.  How sad.  Yes it does, we are all aware of that but we don’t necessarily like it.

Don’t you sometimes feel alone or like you are farting against thunder, trying to keep your spirits high or encouraging the positivity in others only to have the media and various other sources spit negativity out at you at an alarming rate?

I sure do.

Buried Under the Rubble

The influx of devastating news from the media to the sick pictures being posted recently on Facebook showcasing animal cruelty and the likes are but a few of what we’ve been bombarded with lately.

If you don’t have these social networking sites then lucky you!  You’ve just saved yourself some deep trauma.

Yes, negativity does seem to sell but we can change that by focusing our attention on solving the problems not feeding them.

The one mistake most people make is perpetuating the negativity by spreading it, thinking that they are doing good but what they are really doing is helping the offenders to spread their base filth even faster.

I know the kind of people who share this type of bad news/pictures are only trying to spread awareness, their hearts are in the right place but there are other ways of helping out that I will address below.

But before I go into that, I want to bring up another hot issue.

Teenage Dreams Turning into Teenage Nightmares

Sharing these gruesome pictures on Facebook is perpetuating the problem by offering these perpetrators notoriety for their acts (which is one of the reasons why I believe they do it).

The growing need that a select few teenagers have to become ‘famous’ is resulting in them trying anything for their 15 minutes of glory — seemingly, no matter how heinous that publicity might be.

So, what should be done about it?

What can be done is:

• report it directly to the police (put up the photo on a bulletin board at the police station rather than on innocent bystanders cyber walls),
• report it to your local activist group (pertaining to the content),
• send the perpetrators love (yes, it is difficult but you will not solve anything with your hatred — look at the last few thousand years of earth history to see where that gets you.  Try something different),
• send the victims love,
• if you can, donate your time or money to a cause near you (if it is a crime against animals — donate to your local shelter, if it is a crime against women/children — donate to your local care center)

These are practical ways to make a stand.

I agree that awareness will change problems but we must be discerning in how that awareness is carried out.

Are You Helping or Hindering?

“Negativity doesn’t help me.”
— David Ortiz

If you can answer yes to these questions, you may be doing more harm than good.  Are you:

• working yourself up into a frenzy or state of anger over the issue?
• causing anyone distress with what you are doing?
• telling yourself that it is necessary for people to see violent images to get them to stand up and take notice?

Rather ask yourself what you could do in a calm, dignified manner to help the situation.

Let’s take a quick look at the possible causes behind these actions.

Where the Trail Leads

TV reality shows pump out mindless garbage like ‘The Kardashians’ and ‘Jerseylicious’ (to name but a few) and the youth lap it up thinking that this is the key to success.  That through debaucherous actions they will get the attention they crave.

• Get your own reality show.
• Do something outrageous and get noticed.

It’s up to us to help educate and steer these youngsters in the right direction.  Coming up against it in sheer fury will fuel the fire causing an inferno, we need to address the misinformation they are being fed.

Okay, I’ve veered off the topic a tad here.  This was meant to be shining a light on how to keep your head held high when you are being suffocated by lower vibration twaddle.

Anchors Aweigh!

What can you do to keep your head above water?

Navigation.

All hands on deck, Captain!  Navigate your way out of it.

How?  By doing what you can in a positive and uplifting manner.  If there is nothing you can do, pray and send love and compassion.

We’ve just celebrated St. Valentines Day last week, a day for expressing love.  Let’s not stop the day after — let’s keep that love-ball rolling and spread it far and wide.

Keep love alive and you will be able to more easily slip out of the stream of negativity when it arises.

Here are some articles to help you to stay positive:  

How to Get and Maintain that Positive Attitude
7 Proven Tactics to Spread Joy Around the World
A Practical Guide to Feeling Good

If you feel this has resonated with you and have someone in mind whilst you were reading, please do feel free to share. 🙂

This world will change but the seeds need to be sown first — be that seed planter!

On that note, here is a free computer wallpaper quote to encourage those positive vibes:

To download, click on picture — right-click and ‘save as’ to your computer. Use as desktop wallpaper or mini printable posters for around your home or office. You may share this on social networks as long as it is not altered in any way, thank you.

The above picture is taken from my painting ‘Early Morning Fishermen’ and is available as prints/posters/cards HERE.