Turmoil all around us

It’s not difficult to read and hear about everything going wrong all around us.  Turn on the radio, turn on the television, open your web browser and you’ll see it.  The police are going around shooting African Americans and getting away with it.  Protests are erupting with violence.  Lone terrorists are going around blowing themselves up and taking innocent lives with them.  ISIS is recruiting people all over the world to spread terror. 

Times like these make me re-read these great articles written by some of my favorite bloggers:

Stop Overdosing on Celebrity Gossip, The News, and Low Quality Information by James Clear.

The Low Information Diet by Mr. Money Mustache.

It is discouraging to constantly hear about terrorist attacks, homeland violence, and political controversies.  It is so easy to get desensitized to all the turmoil in our communities and around the world.  It seems like shortly after you get riled up and angry from the news you just read, another breaking tragedy occurs somewhere else in the world.

Despite how the media and news outlets would have you believe, we live in the most peaceful era in the history of mankind.  Technological and scientific advances are making our lives better.  Medical breakthroughs are helping us live longer than ever.  The future is bright.  

You can sit around and spend your time getting sad, upset or afraid over things you have absolutely no control over.  Or you can do something more useful with your time.  There are people and communities that we can influence.  You can volunteer your time and energy into helping others and changing their lives.  You can give to the charities you support.  I would try to focus on yourself and the people around you that you can directly influence first, instead of dwelling on the suffering around the world.  You can still choose to stay informed about what’s going on, but there is no need to bear the burden of the world’s sadness alone.  Worrying about the world takes away from your best potential.