When getting ready for work most people follow a particular routine.  For some people the routine might be to roll out of bed, get ready for work then check out the news.  Then, when it is time for the long commute to work, the majority like to “turn that dial” to the local news station during their drive.   During work, these news junkies just cannot stop thinking about what else is going on in the world.  Eight hours of tedious pain staking work, they head on home while listening to the news.  Lastly, once at home they greet the family or pet, followed by getting out of those uncomfortable work clothes and you guessed it, check out the news again! The cycle repeats the next day.

Does that sound a lot like your life? Well if it doesnot, then you are part of the small minority because there are many people who just cannot stop checking out the news.  The obvious question: Why? Is it because we are in the information age and absorbing new information is really important to our likelihood and well being? Maybe for some it is.  After I became extremely curious why most people get engrossed with the news, I decided to search for my answers.  I asked my closest friends, family and anyone I came in contact with to figure out why people are so addicted to the news.  The answers I received was your typical, “I just want to know…” Since that was the first response I got, I decided to pry a bit further by asking more questions.  I finally came to a very interesting conclusion.  I realized that many people watch the news because they subconsciously feel better about their own lives and themselves.  I found this odd and interesting, but it does make sense.  It seems as if the worse and worse the economy gets, the more and more people are interested in watching the news.

Negative News Equals Negative Mindset

For some of you who have not already read my popular post: Do You Have a Friend Who’s a Looser? Get Rid of Em, read it.  Hanging around with negative people will lower your standards which I compare to immersing yourself with negative news. Think about it, is the news really that irresistibly interesting? “2 suspects were sent to jail today on suspicion of murdering their former teacher…” “The economy is doing terrible, 65,000 jobs were lost last month alone…” Why is it necessary to know this information? What good comes from this?   Do you believe you are setting yourself up for a successful life?  Do you really need to fill in that void with a daily “news fix”?

Why I watch the news

I have a different reason for watching the news along with being very selective of what I read. I almost never read about negativity in the news including:

• Shootings
• Murders
• Rapes
• Losing jobs
• Economic meltdown
• Mortgage crisis
• Real estate gone bad
• War

I usually read about:

• Technology advances
• Successful people
• People getting their big break
• Hollywood  news
• Movie releases
• Blogging
• Occasional updates with whatever else is going on in the world

The occasional updates I use for different reasons than most people.  I use it as a tool to communicate with other people.  Almost everyone is talking about the bad economy. What I normally do is briefly converse with someone on a negative story and quickly change the conversation into something inspirational or positive.  I choose to be excited and motivated versus down and glum because of a horrible story. I am different than most people which is great! Does that make sense?

Positive News Equals Positive Mindset

Whether you are looking to become wealthy or spiritually connected, you have a much better chance doing so by being around the right people. What you see on TV or read online has the same impact.  The more positive news you read, the quicker you will allow yourself to emerge in positive thoughts.  They say positive thinking is what helps one move forward. This is somewhat true. Positive thinking is an ongoing action, meaning you must exert energy every second to keep your mind at a positive state.  Most people tell me “AJ, I had my one positive thought for the day so I’m ‘thinking’ positive.”  Even if you have conditioned your subconscious to continuously think of positive thoughts without being consciously aware, you will still end up with something negative by reacting to the news around you.  This is why it is also important to not only stay away from negative news, but read, watch, and listen to more positive news.  A great website I found is called Happynews.com.

Why is the Media Persistent About Providing Negative News?

Every influential person in the world can write about why the news has such a terrible impact on one’s mind, but will people stop watching? Definitely not! The media is like any other business, the only way it survives is by making profit for its shareholders.  The media is only interested in making money which is done by advertising. The more people that watch, the more money they will make.  If  someone has the option on which they would rather see, a bank getting robbed compared to healthy babies being born, the answer would be obvious.  The media is aware that more people would watch the story about the bank robbery compared to the new babies.  This translates into people prefer negative stories rather than positive.

Empower Yourself and the World

Since we cannot simply boycott the news, how about we put 100% focus on positive news.  The media will deliver what the public wants.  If the public would rather be informed of more positive news compared to negative, that is what they will begin to deliver. You have the power to control the news.  Every person who decides that they would rather better themselves by viewing positive news would see the dramatic impact in their mindset.  Imagine the influence if 1 million people across the United States made the decision to ONLY watch positive news from now on. The outcome would be that those one million people would almost instantly see a change in their mindset which would allow them to focus on much more productive or spiritually enlightening things. Those 1 million people will create a ripple effect and possibly even help the economy.

Do you think this is possible? Can we really make vast change in the way we live our lives?  Do we have the ability to influence the media conglomerate? Martin Luther King did and succeeded. Gandhi made a difference.  Rosa Parks took the chance.   Why wait around for someone else to take action when we have the power to simply do it?  Only focus on positive news! Only talk about positive news. Only ASK for positive news.