{"id":4127,"date":"2015-07-11T13:41:05","date_gmt":"2015-07-11T17:41:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.susanvogt.net\/blog\/?p=4127"},"modified":"2015-08-29T18:25:41","modified_gmt":"2015-08-29T22:25:41","slug":"365102-tmi-bad-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.susanvogt.net\/blog\/365102-tmi-bad-news\/","title":{"rendered":"365+#102: TMI-Bad News"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Days<\/a>Within the category of T<\/strong>oo M<\/strong>uch I<\/strong>nformation there are the subcategories of good news, bad news, and irrelevant news.<\/p>\n

GOOD NEWS:<\/strong> Although you would think that there could never be too much good news<\/em>, even good news can create mental clutter. For example, how many birthdays, anniversaries, and friends\u2019 awards do you need to acknowledge? My own rule of thumb is if they are close relatives or friends, Yes, I try to celebrate with them. If not, I\u2019m happy for them but don\u2019t feel compelled to do anything more. \u00a0Click on\u00a0my TMI-Computers<\/a> post and scroll down to the SOCIAL MEDIA<\/span> part\u00a0for more.<\/p>\n

BAD NEWS:<\/strong>\u00a0This is the primary culprit of TMI since bad news is not only mental clutter, it\u2019s also depressing. There will always be natural disasters, wars, and \u00a0tragedies. Some of these are alarms which awaken us to changes that need to be made in our personal lives and in the world. This is \u201cgood\u201d bad news, if we can use it that way. But too often bad news is just a repetitive litany of ills that we can\u2019t do anything about \u2013 except feel bad. Some options that occur to me are:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Limit exposure to excessive bad news<\/u>. Although some bad news can be motivating, the news media tend to grab onto a captivating story and keep repeating it without any significant new information. Be selective about the radio\/TV\/news feeds that you listen to and turn them off when it starts to get repetitive. Sometimes a \u201cNews Fast\u201d is required. Turn off all your gadgets, designate a \u201cNews Fast Friend\u201d and ask him\/her to inform you if a resolution happens or if something requires your direct attention.<\/li>\n
  2. Pray the headlines<\/u>. The secret weapon of spiritual people is that we always have prayer. It may feel inadequate or far removed, but intentionally using the headlines as a prompt for prayer can turn a depressing situation over to someone who can do something about it. It\u2019s a way of letting go and letting God.<\/li>\n
  3. Don\u2019t just pray. Do something<\/u>. As good as prayer is, sometimes the answer to prayer is to do something proactive to address the problem. Make peace with a neighbor if you can\u2019t orchestrate world peace. Send money to a relief agency if you can\u2019t rebuild houses after a hurricane. Sign a petition if you can\u2019t change the government. At least recycle if you can\u2019t singlehandedly prevent climate change. Doing something, no matter how small helps the feeling of helplessness. Joining with others, multiplies your effort.<\/li>\n
  4. Force the bad news out<\/u>. When the above is not enough, try forcing the bad news out of mind and sight by substitution. If feeling depressed, say to yourself something like, \u201cThat\u2019s a bummer\/terrible\/a tragedy.\u201d Sometimes you just have to cry. Then focus on something you are grateful for such as having food, a friend, health, pleasant weather, sleep\u2026 If one of these items is your tragedy, keep searching for something to be grateful for. Another substitution is to do some physical work, perhaps a chore you\u2019ve been avoiding. If you\u2019re already a Type A, overcommitted person, perhaps it\u2019s time to take a break and substitute\u00a0something fun or funny.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    IRRELEVANT NEWS<\/strong> \u2013 Skip it. Ignore it – unless you need a mindless escape for a short time.<\/p>\n

    How do you deal with bad news? What has been most helpful?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Within the category of Too Much Information there are the subcategories of good news, bad news, and irrelevant news. GOOD NEWS: Although you would think that there could never be too much good news, even good news can create mental clutter. For example, how many birthdays, anniversaries, and friends\u2019 awards do you need to acknowledge? […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[29,17,43],"class_list":["post-4127","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-beyond-stuff","tag-intangibles","tag-musings","tag-tmi"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.susanvogt.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4127","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.susanvogt.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.susanvogt.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.susanvogt.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.susanvogt.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4127"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/www.susanvogt.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4127\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4139,"href":"https:\/\/www.susanvogt.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4127\/revisions\/4139"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.susanvogt.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4127"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.susanvogt.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4127"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.susanvogt.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4127"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}