Why you should think about fasting from all "news".
Let me tell you a story.
When I was a teenager, my life consisted of school, church, and an exorbitant amount of extracurricular activities. My home life was surrounded by the sounds of political arguments, both on the television (which was always on), in the car on talk radio, and in every discussion around the dinner table. I was conditioned to believe that the end of the world was coming in my near future, based on the person that sat in the oval office. I would get into heated debates at school with those that had differing opinions from that of, let’s face it, my parents. I was surrounded by raised voices all the time and I thought that that was normal. It created this overwhelming sense of anxiety and depression. Well, who wouldn’t be depressed if you expected the world to end in a few years? What was the point of accomplishing anything pertaining to your future?
When I finally got out of the house and moved to a college in a different state, I realized that the rest of the world didn’t function like my household. Most college students don’t have TVs in their dorm rooms, nor do they have time to waste following the “news.” I even took a “Media and Society” class that explained to me how media works as a business. Here is a newsflash for you, they rely on ratings just like any other television program. They feed the general public what will sell: violence, tragedy, natural disasters, with a few stories of hope sprinkled in to keep you coming back. They aren’t selling “news”, they are selling entertainment.
What do you think would happen if you cut out this source of anxiety from your life? Truly! What if, we as a society said enough! Instead of conditioning our brains to see the world for its faults, what if we stopped listening to reports on the negativity in the world and instead focused on how to improve our own lives and our community.
Now, I don’t think we should go uneducated about the things that are going on in our government. That isn’t what I am saying at all. I choose to ignore “news” for personal reasons. I think it is important to know what’s going on in the world if you can engage in helpful conversations that lead to positive change. This doesn’t mean sharing articles and opinions on Facebook. This only creates animosity between friends. Haven’t we learned from history what happens to people when we divide ourselves over our differences instead of focusing on our similarities? Somewhere along the line, there is always bloodshed.
I believe that when you focus on the things that make you angry and engage in these debates day after day it only creates bitterness for you. You are swallowing a concoction of poison of your own making.
I am also not suggesting that we don’t engage in conversations about social justice. There are issues that will and should make you angry and you should fight for them, but make your anger and your outrage count. Don’t waste these emotions on getting angry at tweets or your neighbors' posts. It’s too exhausting to constantly stay angry and you never know who is going to get hurt as a result of your anger.
What I am suggesting is to fast from “news” for 30 days and see if your mental health improves. If you can go a step further, try fasting from social media as well.
As 1 Corinthians states, “everything is permissible, but not everything is beneficial.” Be careful what you allow into your life, for it will have an effect on you. It’s up to you to distinguish if what you are allowing into your life is beneficial or harmful.
Written by Sharla Ball
