It’s Day 13 of the Just For Today Challenge – 31 Days To A Better You.
Let’s recap. So far, you have a list of 101 Things To Do Before You Die, you’re Waking Up Earlier, you’ve written down your 25 Proudest Moments, you are starting to Eat a Healthy Breakfast, you’re Saying Thank You more often, watching less TV and you’re telling people that You Love Them. Oh, and let’s not forget that you are saving your money. Have you noticed any changes in your life during this 31 Day Challenge so far?
It’s important to remember that we agreed that New Years Resolutions don’t work and that these Challenges are things that you can do Just For Today. Complete the challenge for that day and see if it makes a difference in your life. If it does, then continue with the changes and incorporate them into your daily life.
There’s no pressure to change your entire life within 31 Days. Take small steps, see what works and what doesn’t. I think you will be absolutely astounded by the changes that you have managed to make in your life by completing these Just For Today tasks. If you adopt none of the changes past the 31 days, that’s okay, too. You will have the sense of accomplishment just by completing the 31 Days 
Today’s Challenge is another one that lasts the entire day. I know we can do this!
You’ve probably heard the saying, “If it bleeds, it leads”.
News agencies and TV programs are famous for reporting on the bad news. Haven’t we all had enough of bad news in our lives? Do we really need to be exposed to more of it? I don’t think so!
One of the worst things you can do is read the news in the morning while you’re eating your healthy breakfast. Something far worst is watching or reading the news before you go to bed at night. Do you really want to start and/or end your day with hearing about wars, famine, murders, fires, terrorist attacks, people dying, and all the rest? Do you think you will be in a good mood at the start of the day? Do you think you will have pleasant dreams before you go to bed? I don’t think so.
Take a break from the news Just For Today and see what a difference it makes in your day.
You can’t just stop reading/watching the news because this will create a vacuum. Instead, you have to fill that vacuum with positive things. Read something inspirational before you go to work. Think of all you want to accomplish during the day. Take the time you would have read the news by writing down some of your goals. Instead of coming home from work and watching the news, take the time to cook yourself and your family something really healthy and sit down to enjoy the meal together.
There’s no need to turn on the TV and watch the news in the evening when you can be doing so much more with your time. Fill your life with positive things and notice the difference.
Isn’t it true that what you focus on, you attract into your life? I know it’s true in my life. If I watch the news and hear about the terrorism threats, I start to feel paranoid and see everyone as possible threats. It starts to eat away at my belief that most people are basically good. When I read about car crashes, fires, murders, etc. it can result in me not wanting to leave my house for fear that something bad will either happen to me or to someone I love.
Thinking that “bad things only happens to other people” doesn’t alleviate my fears, because we all know that “there by the grace of God, go I“. We all can be vulnerable. But, we can’t let that stop us.
Garbage in, garbage out. Stop the momentum of having bad things enter your consciousness. Replace the garbage with positivity.
I think that this will be an easy Challenge to complete, but if you had difficulty in not watching the news Just For Today, let us know by leaving a comment. What are you going to do to add positivity into your day today?
For a list of all of the Challenges, see the Just For Today Challenge page.
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{ 10 comments… read them below or add one }
Hi Karen,
) I agree with you completely about the power of replacing negatives with positives. Who was it said you get more of what you focus on? I’m not sure but they sound very wise 
Whilst I generally am very ignorant about the latest news (and too much ignorance isn’t always good either
Great challenge and thank for the re-cap too.
Eleanor
Eleanor Edwards´s last blog ..Paypal and the 20p Showdown
Hi Eleanor,
Glad you liked the recap and this challenge.
I agree – focus on the positive and ignore the negatives.
Karen
I don’t really watch the news or read it very often and haven’t for ages. Makes me wonder why I’m still generally well informed (Possibly relatives and friends are responsible for this lol). So this challenge won’t particularly make a difference to me today, but I do remember when I first stopped watching it…
Actually, I started out not watching it, was made to at least read it for high school (Modern Studies), read it voluntarily for a little while after, then stopped again. Whenever I’m not reading it, I’m generally happier and less stressed out
This would make more of a difference to people that are inundated/obsessed with the news though
Heather´s last blog ..Falling Feathers Part One: Hair and Fur Effect
Yes, Heather, you’ll be happier and less stressed out when you don’t take on the problems of the world. How can we not feel pessimistic with all that’s going on in the world.
You don’t have to be obsessed or inundated to see the news – billboards, commercials, magazines all report bad things, etc. Maybe the news was too specific an example. The point was to try to not let the negativity out there come into your life, if only for one day.
Thanks,
Karen
Yep, taken as a whole, you don’t need negativity to get by at all. In most cases it actually hinders you as a person (more than knowing would have helped you in any way, shape or form).
Still a good blog post, and again, I look forward to tomorrow’s installment
Thanks, Heather.
Knowing about what’s going on in the world is different than internalizing it or being apathetic to events. If we internalize the news, it can really affect how we see other people, as I suggested in the article. Being inundated with bad news all the time can result in us being apathetic to events (i.e. wars, famine, murders, etc). Neither situation is ideal. It’s a hard balance to have – to know what’s going on and yet not let if affect your worldview.
Karen
I only use the TV we have for video games and watching Netflix Instant Watch with the PS3 I have. I never watch the news but if I want to know what’s going on in the world around me I’ll load up a website for the latest.
The way I see it, it’s good to know what’s going on around us but not good to dwell on things we will have a difficult time changing. Yes one person can change the world if done right, I believe. Furthermore, however, focus on your world and your news. Make things happen in your life and let the world go and give what you can and receive what you will. That’s a world we should live in, in my opinion.
Hi Eric,
Welcome to the site. You bring up a good point. One person can change the world. YOU can change your own world perception by being positive as well by just being a better you. Your effect on others can have an enormous impact. Something that we sometimes fail to realize – how much impact we have on those around us.
Thanks for the insightful comment.
Karen
Hi Karen,
I only skim the headlines of the news now, so I have a rough idea of what’s going on without having to read all the negative details that can be depressing.
It’s a real shame that the news has to resort to such negativity to be noticed. I wonder why that is.
Gordie – Lifestyle Design For You´s last blog ..7 Personal Characteristics for Effective Lifestyle Design.
Hi Gordie,
If everything is going hunky-dory in the world, then we wouldn’t notice it so much. We tend to focus on the big highs and lows of life, which get the attention.
No one wants to read or hear that “everything is fine today. nothing major happened, go back to your daily grind”.
Skimming the news is a good strategy, too.
Thanks,
Karen