I am highly sensitive and affected by the world around me. It took me all my life until just a few years ago to understand this and I've spent the time since then learning how to change my habits and behaviors to experience the world differently.
It is hard when we are surrounded by injustice, cruelty, lies and greed disguised as misinformation. How does one show up as a centered, loving person everyday when the world seems to want us in fear?
I was reminded by an incredible teacher that misinformation is a tale as old as time. People in power, or trying to grab power, tell stories to lead people their way. Given technology and the ability of social media to connect people and ideas so quickly and effortlessly, it is not surprising when you scan out to realize that we are living with extreme polarization and spread of misinformation.
This crazy cycle is harming us. Our mental health and well-being are worn down because we see these stories that seem so crazy to us no matter what our beliefs are, and they cause us physical and mental ailment. They also cause worry and fear and make us want to react by posting about it and trying to control other people by telling them how to understand information. Worse, we are now at a time where people try to control others by calling for violence and/or voting in ways that restrict or harm other individuals.
What are we doing?
This is not a way to live.
If you have come to this post, you like me are ready to do this life differently. So what do you do? These are lessons I have learned the last six years:
1. You can continue to be informed while not allowing yourself to be triggered
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- If you watch cable news, turn it off. Period. It is all sensational and opinion. You don't need opinionated people spouting ideas in your head all day long, so turn it off.
- Next, find a couple of news websites that are known for fact-checking in order to validate and/or check if the information you are getting is based in reality.
- Use Snopes and like websites to verify further.
2. Question everything
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- Our want to hear things that validate our beliefs and experience is so high that we honestly can't see if the story is true or not without starting from a place of questioning. So question everything.
- If you take some days off of the news, that will be okay. Especially if you're finding yourself triggered or feeling anger toward people who have nothing to do with your day-to-day life. So stop that cycle for yourself.
- Your energy has better uses. Step away until you feel more grounded.
- Try a grounding meditation.
- Go for a walk.
- Think about the people who you love.
- Do an activity that makes you feel love and joy.
3. Approach others with curiosity to find common ground
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- While you should avoid triggering yourself with people who you do not know, I am an advocate when you are grounded to stay connected with friends and family who do not share your views of the world.
- If we are to be a loving society, we need to find common ground again and where better to start than those you love.
- Every person on Earth is here with purpose. Instead of trying to make them see your view, what if you seek them out for conversation to learn what experiences have led to their views?
- It is important to remember there are people on the other side of these discussions, and if you can, lean in to the people who you know and love. Reminisce and remember your shared values.
- You will realize what lies underneath the way they vote is based on how they were raised, who they have been told to vote for and how they perceive issues by the people they trust and listen to.
- Starting with curiosity, you may find yourself over time coming to a common ground.
4. Remember, this is really about harnessing fear for power
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- At the end of the day, all political leaders regardless of party are jockeying for power and trying to tell us how we need to give them power.
- Worse, world leaders are using technology to undermine and turn us against each other.
- This is about taking your power back. Vote, definitely vote! But do not give your energy away to things and ideas that leave you feeling fear and anger.
- Instead, go toward those things that lift you up and make you feel love and hope.
5. Have a system in place to care for yourself
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- In the hard moments, you need a system to remind yourself what is real.
- Write a list that you are grateful for in your life for an instant mood shift.
- This does NOT mean to turn a blind eye to the injustices of the world. But these moments can spiral for your mental and physical health because you can quickly feel so out of control.
- Think about what you can control - your life, your thoughts, your actions, your hopes and dreams are the only things that you can own and work toward.
If we are going to emerge out of this period of time with a new way of being, we have to stop the behaviors that drive this kind of jockeying for our mind share. Do not allow yourself to become a weapon against others you know and love. Do not allow yourself to live in anger and fear of "the other" because that other is definitely someone who is trying just as hard as you to make it in this world.
Instead, I implore you to see other people as gifts from God with great purpose here, just like you. Seek ways to learn about and understand others so that you are not just living in an echo chamber of hate, fear and worry and instead lift yourself up. You are better than that and God wants more for you, too.
Journal prompt: Make a list of how you can take actions to stop engaging in misinformation. How can you support yourself when you are triggered and feel fear and anger?
❤️☀️