Be careful with what you listen to and do first thing in the morning.
First impressions are important. Make your first impression of the day a good one.
A common saying in the media is, “If it bleeds, it leads.”
People find stories featuring some emotional impact the most interesting. They like conflict. Media experience shows this. They can tell by ratings and story clicks. We may say we don’t like bad news, and we don’t because it’s bad.
Nevertheless, we pay attention. That means as far as the owners and others in the media business are concerned, you like stories like this and I do too. They’re going to give us what we want. We’re going to get more bad news than good.
And ads, too. Ads pay the bills.
Lots of the morning media operates on this principle. There’s some “happy talk” on some local media, too, but for much of it, it’s one controversy after another.
For the seeker of wisdom, it’s not the best way to start the day.
The wisdom seeker, instead, is better served by taking a deep breath and figuring out what he or she wants to accomplish for the day. The wisdom seeker wants to keep themselves in balance and to work on their individual, unique goals that are important to them. The other stuff is a distraction.
That’s not to say that the morning news isn’t valuable in some ways. Someone who faces a commute might be enlightened by news of a traffic jam on the freeway. They can then go to work via an alternate route.
The shootings, house fires, and the rest that happen overnight can wait until later.
The specifics of your morning are best decided depending on the day, your lifestyle, and where you live.
The main point of this article is to remind or inform you that your morning matters. You’re strengthened by certain actions and weakened by others. Don’t fall into the trap that modern life presents by starting out your day with despair-producing news. It doesn’t do you any good and sets you up to be less effective. Consume news consciously, and reflectively. Realize a type of warfare is being conducted. You can’t do that first thing in the morning when you’re not firing on all cylinders.
Also on the blog:
James Cobb RN, MSN is the founder of the Dream Recovery System, a top sleep blog. A good night of sleep is the start of a great day.
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