For the past 3 months I lived in paradise.
New Zealand may be the most pristine country on earth. I enjoyed the Southern Alps, Bay of Plenty and Tasman Sea among other eye-popping spots.
Even better? I did not discuss American politics once during my entire trip. Nor did any Kiwi media reports on US politics grab my attention span.
Now that I’m back home in the USA I want to help you be positive in a politically charged environment.
You may feel desperate, angry or outright hopeless at media headlines. Forget social media. Spending 1 minute on Facebook can turn a Buddhist monk into a raving lunatic.
I am as positive, loving and energetic in New Jersey as I was in remote areas on the South Island of New Zealand. Living inside-out versus outside-in is the first step to be happy despite being surrounded by doom and gloom political headlines.
Follow a Morning Regimen to Live Inside-Out
Living inside-out means choosing your feelings independent of circumstances. You choose to feel happy even if the president publishes a wacky tweet or a seemingly heartless bill becomes law. No matter what happens on the outside you carry a calm, cool, collected feeling on the inside. Set aside time to develop this skill by following a morning ritual daily.
Engage in one or more of these practices to begin living inside-out:
- meditation
- prayer
- yoga
- contemplation
- take an icy cold shower (speak to your doctor first)
Consider supplementing these inside-out practices with 30-60 minutes of exercise daily.
I do oe hour of deep yin yoga and 45-60 minutes of exercise daily to vibe high and to choose my feelings amid a sometimes chaotic, insane political environment.
Besieged or Block on Social Media
I block all updates or users who publish emotionally-charged political updates on social media because I used to be besieged by this venom. Remove the negative to be positive.
Life is short. Subjecting yourself to wild, ignorant, fear-based political rants makes life even shorter because fear is an insidious, destructive energy that adversely affects your mind and body.
Use the block button on Twitter and Facebook. Stop following the news unless you are a journalist or politician. All significant change and progress in life occurs from the inside-out on an individual level.
Feed your Mind Nutritious Food
YouTube provides you with millions of hours of positive, loving, uplifting videos. Feast on this love to maintain a positive vibe in a hectic environment.
Watch Netflix versus the news if you are an entertainment junkie like me.
Read entertaining prose for 30 minutes daily. Engage your imagination to lift your vibe.
Serve Human Beings
I spend 8-12 hours daily serving human beings by teaching people how to blog.
After publishing three posts and creating one video daily I befriend fellow bloggers by commenting on their blogs. At the end of the day I feel so good about giving that I am unable to see the political negativity that appears to be swirling around me.
Help your fellow human beings. Hold a loving, generous intent with your job or business. Fill your day with service to rise above the bickering and badgering of a negative political environment.
Cultivate Compassion
If a negative political headline sneaks into your main feed on Twitter simply see the update for what it is: hurt people hurt people. Feel compassion for fearful politicians who attempt to close their nation off from the rest of the world. See the appearances of marginalized masses in an empowered, loving light.
The worst thing you can do is to fight combative politicians or to pity seemingly weak people; both practices pull you into the muck of political negativity and madness of illusion, making you part of the problem.
Show compassion for the negative headline makers to be positive and to add your loving energy to the appearance of fear, strife and fight.
Your Turn
How do you remain positive in a politically charged environment?
Ryan Biddulph is a blogger, author and world traveler who’s been featured on Richard Branson’s Virgin Blog, Forbes, Fox News, Entrepreneur, Positively Positive, Life Hack, John Chow Dot Com and Neil Patel Dot Com. He has written and self-published 126 bite-sized eBooks on Amazon. Ryan can help you build a successful blog at Blogging From Paradise.
Image courtesy of Sander Smeekes.
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