“It is what you read when you don’t have to that determines what you will be when you can’t help it.” – Oscar Wilde
As I pick up my latest issue of Positive News, I thought of the phrase, “you are what you read.” We were trying to win Pandemic Legacy’s November with friends last night when one of our friends’ mobile phone started beeping. Apparently, there was another high school shooting in Texas and she just received an automated news alert about it. Which is great, I do that too — receive news alerts from trusted media companies when there is world-changing news. It is good to know what’s happening around us. Relevant and updated information gives us insights, acquaints us with options and turns what we know to empowered knowledge. But if most of our knowledge about the world comes from news reports, what kind of knowledge do we really get from it?
According to research, people who’s sole source of information is the news are more negative about the world. Individuals who get off the news for a while get a more balanced view of the world. I know this from personal experience and have tested it with myself time and again. I can get really immersed in the news I am reading. If I read the news many times a day, seven days a week, the pessimist in me kicks in, leaving no room for creativity and innovation.
My friend’s phone beeped again. There was a plane crash in Cuba. She was getting anxious. I gave her a copy of Positive News to read, to balance it out. Why do we never get news alerts of positive news?#
