Could Skipping The News Boost Your Happiness?

As long as you don’t mind not being able to participate in any conversation about current affairs I have the prescription for happiness.  Do not watch, listen or read anything that has to do with the news.  Should you choose to “bury your head in the sand” you can avoid the reality of the times we live in and live each day as if the glass was more than half full.

Pardon my use of phrases to make a point but rarely can you make it through the first 15 minutes of a TV newscast without uttering to yourself or someone else, “there is no hope.”  Maybe there are some parts of the country where that is not the case but as one who watches New York and national news on a nightly basis I wonder why I truly put myself through this agony.  Shootings, stabbings, drugs and other acts of violence hit you like a ton of bricks and then comes the latest on what’s happening in Washington and you are left shaking your head and even screaming at your TV.

What watching the news sometimes does is allow you to thoroughly enjoy the stories that are upbeat and have a happy ending.  We watch World News Tonight with David Muir and my favorite part is the last couple of minutes when they air a feature that often leaves you with a smile.  Of course the previous 25 minutes are a different story.

Again if you don’t mind “being in the dark” on what’s happening in the world today just avoid all forms of media and that includes social media which is the worst.  That’s not hard to do is it?