Breaking news, unbreakable you: S.H.I.F.T
Frightening breaking news frazzle and make us emotionally fragile. How do we remain unbreakable in a deluge of news? A S.H.I.F.T can keep us unbroken in the flood of unpleasant news about COVID-19 and other worrisome situations. We can be emotionally strong in the face of scary news.
S.H.I.F.T
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Self-regulate the amount of news you consume We can protect ourselves from being overwhelmed by the amount of news that is coming at us from various Social/media platforms by self-regulating the in flux of news. I have found that reserving a specific time in my day to go over news and posts helps me to focus on other things. Not too many things will fall within our sphere of control that will demand immediate response. News will always be there. Even when they are ‘olds’, they are still ‘news’.
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Hone in on the truth and weed out the false and spurious. Authenticate your news sources. Not every news is true. It is important to verify news items. It is also good to listen to different perspectives as presented by different channels. Sometimes one is able to minimize and probably eliminate biases, exaggerations, minimizations and falsehood.
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Invest in other creative activities apart from news gathering. I have found it helpful to change activity, location or media after reading or listening to breaking news. The change of activity gives the brain the opportunity to recalibrate, refresh and refocus. The change of scenery shifts the attention of the mind and reduces the intensity of the impact of whatever information received. This dissipates the stress hormones that are building up as a result of the emotional impact of the negative news. It might be helpful to minimize the screen time and maximize the ‘skin’ time with family. Choose to listen to a piece of inspirational music, go for a walk, cook. Take a deep breath and count backwards. The oxygen gulp helps the brain to renew, refresh and reboot. To rationally evaluate the situation.
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Focus on living in the present moment. Don’t give in to panic and anxieties about the future. Take a deep breath and appreciate what and who you have. Enjoy the present. Choose to focus on love. Breaking News sometimes leave us with feelings of fear, hopelessness and listlessness about life. Choosing to appreciate what we have right now produces positive emotions of thankfulness and connectivity with those around us. Living in the moment prevents anxious thoughts about tomorrow from stealing from our today through worry.
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Toss your fears and anxieties to the power that is greater than you. There could be the imminence of danger or perplexity. The discipline of rolling it over in prayer puts it in the hand of a power that is bigger than us. This quote sums it up for me, “ Be anxious for nothing but in everything with prayer and thanksgiving make you request known to God and the peace which passes all understanding will guard your heart”
The ability to have inner peace is a protective factor against outer turmoil. S-H-I-F-T gears in your mind to a place of peace.
We can be Unbreakable by making the SHIFT when breaking news comes.
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