Secrets for Remaining Hopeful Despite My Newsfeed
It can be tough remaining hopeful when faced with the newsfeed I face every day.
I work on my computer – which means that my work requires daily online activity which requires that I open my internet browsers. No matter what kind of day I am having, the internet attempts to pull me down into a pit of despair and desperation. From a quick glance at my news feeds, I should just give up already. It is a lost cause.
I know better. I start my mornings in the Word. The Word gives me the better foundation for standing strong. Through the Word, I have better going on in my life.
But that newsfeed can be overwhelming – especially when it just keeps on coming. Most of it has no effect on my life other than I get caught up in the drama. The opinions offered do nothing to alter my day to day living other than I get lost in the words and throw a few of my own.
Turning off the newsfeeds works to a certain level. I have to be diligent in getting those little boxes closed. If a few words get buy, then they are pretty good at breaking down the flood gate. Before long my browser is flooded with more words about things that mean little to my world.
I understand that I need to be informed. I do my “due diligence” before elections and I invest time researching the candidates and the issues. I have even been known to send an email or two with targeted questions. I want my decisions to be well informed.
That is not what I am talking about here.
The best secret for remaining hopeful in the noise is to find a better focus for my life Share on XThe constant negative, nagging, nastiness that fills the newsfeeds in social media and search engines exhausts me. I once thought a positive spin could break the cycle but I about got broken for sharing that positive spin. Instead of “Say Anything,” I have taken the stance that it is best to “say NOTHING.”
The lack of engagement with the negative, nagging, nastiness does not stop the effect. Just seeing the hurtful things people say about each other cuts into the joy of my day. I want to shake them and ask “why” because I have never understood the need to tear down others for any reason.
Since it is there and since it does affect my heart and my mind, I have developed some secrets for remaining hopeful in the midst of it all.
Top Secrets for Remaining Hopeful in the Mess of the World
- remember that is it not my fight. Ultimately, I will never fix it. I will never win. I will never overcome. BUT – and this is the most important one in the world – it has already been done for me. Move the “I” out of the equation. The fight has been won. My job is to find my place in the victory. Sometimes, just that reminder is enough to make me click the close button and walk away content.
- get reminded that it is not my place. Despite the comfort that comes from knowing the end results, there are still those days when I want to say to God, “I know you have this but this once I think I will do the smiting.” I have learned that if I take a step back, and take a deep breath, and really look at the situation from a non-emotional, analytical perspective (yes, I know that is not as easy as it sounds) then I recognize that the situation is not even in my jurisdiction.
- I find a better way to invest my resources. My time can never be remade. Once I invest that time, it is gone forever. My other resources are also important because it takes more time to create more resources. A serious review of what the mess will cost in my personal investment often gives me plenty of reasons to walk away.
The stuff still comes at me. The headlines still flash in front of me. The rumors still fly around me. The mess had not gone away. I am just finding my ways for remaining hopeful despite all the empty stuff crowding my newsfeed.
Be blessed,
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