4 Ways To Deal With Negativity in the World

Picture this scenario: You wake up in the morning, brush your teeth and get ready to go to work. You head to your kitchen and brew yourself a cup of coffee.

Before leaving the house, you settle down with that coffee and whip out that iPad of yours. You don’t actually read the news, you just want to surf Facebook.

While scrolling through your newsfeed you come across a video your friend just posted, with the status, “Omg sick! Can’t believe this happened”.

You’re intrigued. You click on it.

And your day is ruined.

Because you just watched a very raw footage of someone getting robbed/someone getting hit by a car/a bunch of people getting into an ugly brawl…

… The list goes on.

Has this ever happened to you before?

The negative state of the world

Subsequently, your mind cannot help but wonder, “What is up with this world?”

“Why is life so unfair?”

“Why do bad things happen to innocent people?”

“Why are there even crimes?”

“Why do people act the way they do? Can’t we all live in peace?”

“What if it happens to me?”

The negativity in this world can be pretty overwhelming at times, depressing even to some.

Sadly, life still carries on as it is. There are 7 billion people in this world and there’s always a clash in among cultures and differences in religions.

We all try to live our life and be happy, but each of us have our own set of challenges and brushes with negativity from time to time.

But don’t let it get to you.

Here are 4  ways to deal with negativity of the world

1) Be strong, don’t get paranoid

In order to not let the bad stuff and negativity get to you, you got to make the conscious choice to be strong and happy.

Don’t be paranoid that, for whatever bad things you heard or read about, it probably will not happen to you too.

Getting paranoid and expecting the worst to happen will simply add unnecessary stress to you and your mental state.

I find that many people think that they “should” expect the worst in life, just so that they can be prepared to deal with it when it actually happens.

Do you see that this ironically makes you somewhat negative already?

Instead, acknowledge that there’re indeed negativity in this world, then move on with your own life, work hard and do what makes you happy.

2) Focus your energy on helping then

Then focus your energy on trying to make this world a better place.

You can help in little or big ways. Every effort counts.

It’s very well known that if you’re feel down or even depressed, all you got to do is help others to instantly feel better.

Don’t think that you’re just “one guy” and that you can’t make a difference.

It’s not like you have to spend all your time doing volunteer work or start a movement, but the idea is to turn into a positive state of always wanting to help, which would definitely occupy your mind enough such that there’s no place for negativity to even come in.

Look at it this way: Sure, there’s negativity and bad stuff going on around in this world, but that’s when the good has a chance to shine.

It’s up to you take a side then.

3) Just block it!

It is known that people have an affinity towards reading bad news. We prefer it in fact. It’s more entertaining than good news.

Studies and research have also been done to  show that we’re psychologically inclined to yearn towards bad news.

Maybe it’s happening to you subconsciously already.

Well subconscious or not, I say it’s completely up to you to make a choice.

Just because you’re drawn to a pretty compelling headline doesn’t mean you have to read it.

Just because all your friends are sharing disturbing videos online doesn’t mean you have to watch it either.

So block it out.

If you know deep down it may potentially make you feel disturbed, just don’t participate. It’s not going to be worth it.

It’s not like you’re going to miss out or be left behind if you decide not to take part in any kind of “trendy” news anyway.

4) Remember that there is good in this world

Negative as this world can be, don’t forget about the other side of the coin.

There is good in the world, something I think a lot of us forget. The good may not be on the front page of our papers, but they exist.

There’re good people who go the extra mile to care for others.

There is natural, undying beauty which mother nature has given us.

There is awesome, man-made wonders like the miracles of science and progression of technology.

They all make us feel good to be alive.

And the great thing is that, a little bit of good makes a whole lot of difference, all the time.

So focus on the good.

Block out the bad, the noise and the negativity.

Even in days you feel overwhelmed, always remember that there is good.

Posted in: Happiness, Self Improvement