For the Love of God, Turn Off the News and Go Outside

2020 called, they want their shenanigans back

If there’s one thing Americans seem to have in common now, it’s that everyone is angry about current events. As if the actual events weren’t enough, every media outlet is adding fuel to the fire. I can’t seem to find any member of the media that is just presenting the facts objectively.

Every media outlet is pushing an agenda. This is how the media works. They are competing for attention and like all marketers, they’re trying to get your attention with titillating headlines and inflammatory talking points aimed at stoking unrest in us. All this is doing is contributing to stress in our lives at the macro level. According to this article from the recovery village, they summarize statistics on stress from The American Institute of Stress,

“Long-term stress is often a contributing factor in many of the leading causes of death in the United States, including heart disease, cancer, lung disease, accidents, cirrhosis of the liver and suicide.”

Let’s all just chill for a second and put things into perspective

Nobody is wrong for their opinions. Everyone is 100% justified to feel however they want to feel. If that upsets us, it’s us we need to change and not them. Not being able to understand or accept opinions different than our own is the reason the country is in the shape it is. It’s not because of who’s president. No man is all-powerful enough to break or build a country. We break it or we build it by the decisions we make every day, how we treat each other, and how we respond to current events.

It’s deeply disturbing to see so many people incapable of hearing or dialoguing with anyone who doesn’t share their views. We should celebrate each other’s victories. If your candidate won the election, I’m happy for you. If your candidate didn’t win, they won last time and your candidate will likely win next time. and I’ll be happy for you when that happens, too.

The new president will spend most of their time trying to undo what the former president did. The president after that will try to undo the things our new president will do. Congress will fight back and forth, and the media will spin facts into flames trying to convince us that our lives as we know them are over because that’s the medias’ business model.

Whoever the president is won’t really impact much of our lives. It’s far more important about our government on the local state level than the federal. I’ve lived through 6 presidents. My quality of life has been pretty much the same through all of them and it’ll be the same going into the 7th one.

I wonder what would happen if we redirected the time and energy being consumed with politics and put it towards enhancing our lives. Maybe there’s a relationship that could use some work. Maybe there’s a new skill you’d like to learn. Even reading fiction would be a better use of time because it would serve as a distraction and give your mind a chance to relax and reset.

It’s good to know what’s going on. Be informed, read and learn about issues, vote, and then move on with your life. Instead of getting sucked into the black hole of anger and despair, take that energy, and use it in ways to be productive.

Write a letter to congress

Let the government know how you feel. Writing a letter to the government is far more productive than ranting on social media or talking about it with others who agree with you. All that does is confirm your held beliefs and build up more angst. We need to have a productive way of releasing that energy and writing a letter to the government is one of the best ways to do it. Not only is it one of the few options we have to get our message to the people who can actually cause change, but it’s also therapeutic to write our thoughts to completion.

Write an article or a book

Try writing articles that take a deep dive into the issues. Status updates don’t do justice to any issues or our opinions. We need thought-provoking discussions and that doesn’t happen in 120 characters. You could take this one step further and write a book about the topic. You can upload a simple word document into a kindle book on amazon. Who knows, you make even make a little money for writing about your views. I did it as a test last week. It took all about 20 minutes to have my account set up and my document published into a kindle book.

Spend time with your family

Play with your kids. Talk to your spouse. Have a movie or a game night with the family. Build on the most important relationships we have. I never want the energy I put into politics to come close to the energy I put into the most important people in my life.

Walk in nature

A 5-minute walk in nature will make you feel better, I promise. Getting outdoors in the sunshine, around nature, is a cure-all for just about any kind of stress. I think if everyone in America spent time outdoors for just a few minutes every day, we’d all be in a better place.

Do something for someone else

Take your attention off the news and do something for your spouse, or a friend, or a stranger. One of the quickest ways to get fulfillment is by doing something for others.

Final Thoughts

Most of what is going on is far beyond our control. Focus on what is in our control and let go of what isn’t. What is in our control is how we conduct ourselves and how we treat each other. It’s one thing to argue about how to fix problems on the macro level. But it’s far better to put our values into action in how we interact on the micro-level. The importance of our actions far outweighs the importance of our opinions.

The irony of all of this is that on both sides I’ve seen conservatives and liberals talk about how their side is more morally just while at the same time saying they can’t understand the other side of the conversation. The evil of the “other side” will never be as bad as choosing not to talk to them.