As someone who is very interested in current events, politics, sports, and more - I pay a lot of attention to the news (sometimes more than is probably healthy for me). I read newspapers, check the Internet, watch TV, and listen to the radio. With all of this news and information, I am often struck by how little of it is “good news,” especially these days.

While there is probably a certain amount of negative stuff that is important for us to know about, if we spend time checking in with most of the “mainstream” press, it’s easy to get the impression that life is really scary, negative, and that there are lots of terrible things are happening all over the place.

In recent months with all that is happening around the world and in our economy, there have been some genuinely negative things happening. These things do have real impact on real people – and on many of us personally. However, what about all the good news? There are literally billions of positive things happening all over the planet at this moment…most of them we will never hear about or know about. Think of how much good stuff goes unnoticed, unacknowledged, and un-communicated even in our own personal lives on a regular basis.

What has been happening in our country, our culture, and our world is a reflection of what is going on within each of us. We can get caught up in the “doom and gloom” of the moment, obsess about all of the issues and challenges facing us today, and allow the bad news coming at us from every angle get to us on a personal level…or we can choose something else.

While I am not advocating that we bury our heads in the sand, pretend everything is “fine,” and just ignore what’s happening…I do believe that now more than ever, we must be conscious about what we watch, read, and listen to. Nobody forces us to read the paper or the Internet, turn on the TV or radio, or get caught up in the mass hysteria of how “awful” things are. We each do that in our own personal way.

Here are a few things you can do to focus on more good news and not let the negative news get to you so much:

1) Limit the amount of news you consume. If you’re honest about it, you don’t need to watch, read, or listen to as much as you do in order to stay informed. If this is an issue for you, create a specific time limit per day and have others in your life support you and hold you accountable.

2) Choose news sources that you respect and at some level make you feel good. In other words, notice how you feel personally and emotionally when you watch a particular news show, listen to a someone on the radio, or read a newspaper, magazine, or website. If you notice that after watching, listening, or reading you don’t feel so good – maybe you can find another source for your news. This is about honoring yourself!

3) Seek out good news. Whether it’s in the media or in your life personally, now more than ever we must look for and find things to be grateful for, happy about, and excited about. There’s lots of good news out there; it’s up to us to find the good stuff and also to talk about it to others.

What are you doing or will you do to focus on more good news these days?
Share your thoughts on my blog here.