The news bombards us with violence, economic and environmental crisis and events that inspire fear. While empowering us with knowledge, it is also the cause of a wave of hopelessness that is prevalent across the globe. In this post I invite you to become aware of the impact that all this bad news has on our thinking and to join our movement of hope.
Bad News is Everywhere
Television, radio, cellphones, newspapers, computers. We have access to news 24/7 and 99.9% of it is scary. It makes us worry about our physical and financial security. It paints a picture of a future that we have no control over, that is bleak and hopeless. Even if current events don’t make us consciously afraid, subconsciously it effects our decisions, behaviour and choices.
The Subconscious effects
Human beings are designed to survive. In order to do this, we have to be aware of threats to our survival. Our brains are very efficient at scanning for threats, which we do as often as 5 times per second. This ‘scanning’ happens automatically. Threats don’t need to be processed by our conscious thinking unless there is an immediate threat to our safety. News sneaks ‘under the radar’ because it doesn’t threaten us in the moment. This means that it ‘plugs in’ to our subconscious, where it drives our behaviour without us even being aware of it.
The brains response to threat is to re-direct our mental energy to survival mode. This has a negative impact on our judgement, decision making skills, ability to tolerate risk, creativity. In short, we are no longer able to perceive a wide variety of solutions.
Join the Movement to inspire Hope
Awareness of how the brain responds to news is the first step to regaining some control over our thinking. It isn’t likely that we’ll stop reading or watching the news, so the best we can do is be aware of its effect on how we think.
“Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms—to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.”
Viktor Frankl
The ability to experience hope in the face of hopelessness is a critical skill to overcome this challenge. We have no influence over what is going on in the world, but we have a choice about our perception and how we respond to it.
What positive behaviour, attitude or initiative can you adopt to help you achieve a positive impact? What can you do to support a better future for yourself and others? Paying attention to this type of project can go a long way to reducing subconscious fear.
Our message: Spread hope by doing something selfless and meaningful. Join us in our movement for a bright tomorrow.