Did you catch the latest news headlines? Did you see the latest news report? Did you hear what they said now? Did you know what happened? Do you know what this means for us?
Questions like these are usually part of a normal conversation for many around the globe each day. They get us talking, they get us thinking, they make us informed – or so that is what we would like to believe, to justify our involvement in local and global affairs.
But did you also notice how those questions also “hype” us up, and not in a positive way either? If you are sensitive to your body’s fluctuations, you will notice that as soon as we hear or become part of conversations like these, we become more on edge, we tense up a bit and our entire emotional framework changes.
So while many people will perhaps innocently read the paper daily, listen to the news on the radio or on the television each night, I think we need to confront the deeper issues of why we do this. As growing and evolving beings, we need to ask ourselves the deeper questions of what role the current and popular media plays in our life and why we have an incessant need to follow news sources that usually have little to offer our inner being?
Good News Or Bad News Outlets
To begin with, let us first look at what purpose does the “news”, whatever the medium that they are transmitted through, serve for us. The news I am referring to here, is specifically the typical stuff that consists of local and global issues, but can be applied to some other news outlets too.
I grew up in a home where newspapers were rare, but the news was on, on television on a daily basis, sometimes a few times a day even. So before I speak any further I want you to know that I do know what is portrayed on the news and am not speaking blindly about something I have no experience with.
Regardless of what part of the world you live in, I am sure the news headlines do not differ much, they always seem to have the same few themes in common: disasters, dramas and problems
Now I don’t know, but you tell me, how is this serving the greater good, to be immersed in or to promote such areas of life, that often come out of nothing else besides fear and unconsciousness?
Even more so, there is no way anyone in their right mind feels “good” after reading how many people died here or there, which markets crashed or where the latest accidents happened.
The news claims that it is doing “US” a favor, by keeping “US” informed and up to date. And I have had people say to me that if you don’t get the news, then “you don’t know what is going on in the world, that you are not informed.” But informed and up to date about what? The lack of consciousness most of the world lives in, the lack of compassion various people display, the absence of accountability that too many people practice?
This is definitely not the type of news that benefits anyone, except perhaps our egos and pain-bodies. Secondly, this is not reality, contrary to what many people think. Besides the fact that the news is highly processed and biased, we each create our own world and reality (I know some of us are just learning to grasp this very idea).
If the news actually shared information that was rooted in love, compassion, awareness and inspiration, I have no doubt the the world could be transformed almost over night – but it doesn’t. That of course would not sell sadly, because at the core, people who are genuinely happy, fulfilled and at peace, don’t need others telling them how to live or what to believe.
In my opinion, and of course this is generally speaking (as there are exceptions), the news tells us everything that is wrong with the world and very little if anything, that is right. It is perhaps, one of the most dis-empowering outlets that we have present to us today.
So how is that useful and beneficial to mine and your, growth and well-being – to be pulled into other people’s worlds of drama, negatives and unconsciousness?
The only valuable thing that I know that can arise out of that, is “contrast” – the contrast that allows for some of us to wake up and value the other side of things, which then empowers us to have the option to choose for ourselves. The problem of course is that many of us do not see it as that, and hence do not choose to be represented by what really serves us. Instead again, we get caught up in other people’s worlds.
Think about it, how many murders or rapes do you have to hear about before you start shuddering at the thought of walking or being home alone at night? Not many. How many scare tactics have to be fed to us before we start thinking that the world is falling apart? Again, for most of us not many. Just look at what is currently happening to many, thanks to the stories about the world economies.
This is why, and again in my opinion, the only thing the news does do more than anything else, is make more fearful, judgemental, biased, skeptical, hopeless, disempowered and sad populations of people.
And trust me, if you should choose to free yourself and walk away from the “news”, you do not have to worry about missing anything. IF there was something huge going on, that we REALLY needed to know about, we would. In a technologically advanced world like we have today, it would be impossible to miss, unless of course you chose so purposely.
If It Feels Bad, Why Then Do We Still Follow
If you surveyed how many people out there, daily, get news in some form, I have no doubt that the numbers would be overwhelmingly high, but then again with all this awakening on the planet today, we may be pleasantly surprised otherwise.
Anyhow, the question then remains, if the news does not make us feel good, why then do we continue to go back for more each day? Perhaps, because we hope that tomorrow will be different, but I don’t think that is likely.
Therefore, I have one main theory on this and it stems out of fear.
People who do not realize that they are accountable for their own life and that THEY create their own reality, rely on things like the news to create their reality for them. Then of course that very convoluted and highly misrepresented reality becomes their own – no matter what it is and they are hooked into it – fish, line and sinker!
I believe too, that many of us have been so brainwashed today by a “fear-based” society into thinking that we actually “need” the news. I feel that for many people it gives them a sense of control, like “no matter how bad things get, at least I know about them.” Well I don’t know how people can find comfort in that, but they do.
This is why it takes a big openness to growth and change to look at life a little deeper, a little more consciously and to realize that the world you are shown by the media is not your world. It is if you want it to be, but it doesn’t have to be. And we also cannot mistaken this with “denial.” What I am trying to explain here, has nothing to do with denial, but with self-realization. That self-realization that many of us are waking up to today and inspiring others to do the same.
Now it is one thing to glance at a headline here or there, especially if there IS actually something that is of special and significant interest to you, but quite another to do so out of a daily ritual. So if you, yourself follow the news daily, I invite you to ask yourself and give it some serious thought and contemplation as to why?
If this has become nothing more than a subconscious habit, then make yourself aware of it, determine if it really serves you and take action on it, one way or another.
I have to tell you, the people that I know, who regularly read the papers or watch the news, are some of the most (forgive the labeling here) stressed, worrisome, cynical and angry people I know.
Thus, if you allow yourself to do some real, deep soul searching, I suspect you may learn something big about yourself in this process.
I know people who realized plain and simple that they, or more correctly put, their ego, was simply addicted to it. Our egos love and crave drama and negativity, there is no denying that. So the question remains, can you bring yourself to see that, and even more so to face it and deal with it in a beneficial way for you? Can you find the strength to step out of your ego and actually detach yourself from it altogether, at least when it comes to the news?
Conclusion
To finish off, we have to understand that by increasing one’s awareness and levels of consciousness it in no way means being or becoming “ignorant.” I will be the first to promote growth and learning and to invite you to seek information. But there is a huge difference in quality, in terms of where and how you get your information.
First and foremost, seek sources that have nothing to gain from sharing what they’re sharing with you and nothing, generally speaking to sell you.
Secondly, seek multiple sources and always, always get both sides to every story. Even though that will still not provide a 100% trustworthy source, at least you have lots of information to gather and make the best conclusions for yourself. In the end the accountability always rests with you.
Thirdly, seek sources that make you feel good, because the better you feel, the more empowered you will be.
Finally, use personal discernment and tap into your intuition. For only then will you really be thinking and feeling for yourself, to know what is right for you.
Remember, it is no surprise that today’s news, even aside from that fact that it is drenched with drama and negativity, is greatly biased and controlled. And with that kind of a foundation, one has to wonder what they are really gaining out of it?
It is no secret that many people have been mislead so much, especially from a scientific and health perspective, not to mention numerous other ways, thanks to the news. And sadly we pick up the information quickly, but are so much slower at correcting it, when presented with the right facts. I cannot tell you how many people have said to me “but I heard it on the news”, as if that was some official, all-knowing source for life.
So in conclusion, feel free to enjoy ALL of the aspects that physical reality presents you here with, but do so consciously. For only then, will you grow and be enriched by the knowledge you encounter, instead of being brought down by it.