Week Three -- turn off the news

Windows in Sainte-Chappelle in Paris.

There's nothing that makes me feel more powerless than watching news reports (or reading Facebook posts, etc) of acts of war and terrorism. The news industry plays on our susceptibility to keep watching. Just as we have a hard time looking away from a car crash or are drawn to suspense thriller movies that have lots of pretend violence, we keep tuning in to hear more about what has happened.

We want to do something concrete to help. We turn our Facebook profile pic into a French flag. But then we hear about all of the other horrific violence that goes unnoticed most of the time. And the we feel ambivalent about the attention we are devoting to the Paris attacks and guilty that we didn't pay more attention to the other tragedies.

What I can do is try to be a source of peace and calm in my own little world. I need to have a sense of the loss and suffering of others so that I can have and build empathy, but for my own well-being, I have to give myself permission to turn off the news and think about other things. In the realm of world terrorism, I am powerless. For the people and animals that I interact with each day, I can do my best to be an uplifter.

So, this week's way to a happier you is to give yourself permission to turn off the news. (I'm not the only one who thinks it's bad for us, btw.)

Have a peaceful week.