I probably can make the connection to the phrase “we are what we eat”, this post isn’t about food, although as I’m sitting here writing this I’m also thinking “I wish I knew where I could get some good cookies besides heading to the store for some mint Oreo’s”. Such is my life. 🙂
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As I’ve probably stated multiple times in the last 10 months, I’m presenting working a consulting assignment out of town. This basically means that I’m showing up in an office and working at least 8 hours each day. Because I’m not working in a leadership capacity, it’s basically the same thing every day, and, well, my mind doesn’t work like that because it likes diversity of work. Sure, I get to basically create a lot of my own work, but it’s dull, mundate stuff, though necessary.
The lucky thing about living in the 21st century is that we have all these different things we can take with us to work to watch & listen to, although folks frown on your “watching” stuff per se. However, you can listen to a lot of stuff, and I’ve always enjoyed documentaries so it’s a great time to catch up on a lot of things I’ve never seen. YouTube is a lifesaver… or is it?
I was going along pretty well there for a time until I noticed that my mood had started to change. I wasn’t feeling all that happy mentally, and it was extending outside of the office. Frankly, being out of town all by myself is pretty lonely, and yet I was starting to embrace the loneliness as a shield and didn’t want to bother with anybody, even on the weekends. I wasn’t getting depressed, but I was getting a little bit paranoid.
Then I figured it out. The documentaries I was partaking in were, for the most part, about the darker aspects of human life. There are lots of documentaries on serial killers, gangs, drugs, despots and dictators, death, murder… in other words, there’s lots of negativity that looks like information we all need or might crave.
I liked this stuff because I was learning a lot… of useless stuff. Sure, we all need to be careful of our surroundings and watch out for nefarious characters, but we also need to be ready to enjoy life a bit; wouldn’t you agree?
I decided I had to change up a bit. I started looking for comedians and funny stuff. I started listening to more motivational speakers and those TED talks that are pretty popular. I love Neil deGrasse Tyson so I started listening to everything I could find with him in it, as well as a lot of science stuff, mainly astrophysics; I’ve always been fascinated by things like that.
I also decided to go back and listen to some of my own videos on my two channels, something I really hadn’t done much of because, like blog posts sometimes, once they’re written it’s often on to the next thing. A couple made me cringe, but many of them just made me laugh, even the serious stuff; sometimes even I wonder how I come up with the things I talk and write about.
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What happened? I started feeling good again mentally and even the boring work took on a different feel. I found things to laugh about that may have only been funny to me, but it’s a better state of mind than where I was, and truthfully it’s a state of mind that I strive for most of the time.
But I went further than that. There were some people I was following on Twitter who kept up the negative stuff, even if it was stuff I agreed with. I’m a liberal in my politics, but there’s just so much conservative bashing one can take without getting riled up. I don’t follow any conservatives on Twitter, so no problems there.
On Facebook, because of F.B. Purity (come on, y’all aren’t using this yet?), I block a lot of stuff but some gets through via images. If I kept seeing the same thing from certain people I just stopped following them, because my closer friends don’t put that stuff out all the time. I don’t really mind the occasional thing, but 24/7? Who can mentally be in a good place putting stuff like that all the time?
I like this blog, I’m Just Sharing. You know why? Because I vacillate between happy and serious stuff, teaching stuff, opinions and the like, but overall I think the tone of this blog is more towards the uplifting, motivational side. I think that when one’s mind is in the right place, their writing style improves and, hopefully, others can read their words and know that even when there are complaints it’s coming from a place of love and joy, such as my post on commenting courtesies.
Think about your own life for a bit. What types of things are coming into your life on a daily basis? Is it positive stuff that makes you feel good? Are there a lot of things that you deal with that make you feel bad? Are there things you can change to help change your mindset towards more positive feelings, even if they’re small changes? In the long run, doesn’t everyone really want to feel happy at least most of the time?
Do you need more? Then check out this post on ways to reach your own personal Super Bowl that I wrote 2 years ago; just something to think about that may help you on your way to feeling better.
Hey Mitch, long time no speak (though I read all your posts on email so for me it doesn’t seem so long).
I just wanted to say how much I agree with the sentiments of this post and am glad to see someone writing about this phenomena. It seems we are like sponges that soak up vibrations, or maybe it’s osmosis, but no matter we are what we turn our attention towards. Thank you for writing this.
Thanks for your words Roz, and you’re right, I haven’t seen you in a while. You know, sometimes I forget this issue but it does come up from time to time. It’s one of the reasons I stopped watching the news for a long time last year because I was absorbing all the negativity and expelling it at others; just have to get off that treadmill.
Neil deGrasse Tyson is my second favorite astrophysicist as I reveled in my post “Full Moon” where I also said who my fave is. MITCH- Did you see the Youtube video called “Neil Degrasse Tyson [SLOW MOTION]” where he discusses his main man Newton? Worth a look.
Yes, I do not watch these negative shows. I watch educational upbeat stuff like Build It Bigger or Strip the City.
Also one of the reasons I created 1KSmiles.
Great, now I have to go find that post to see if you picked Michio Kaku or someone I don’t know. lol I like certain programs that show how you can get something changed or fixed in a short period of time with dedication because they always end positively. There are some who will say that not everything ends positively; the only thing I know that doesn’t end well is life; I’m still working on how to beat the alternative. 🙂
Some could argue that life DOES end well. Is not Heaven supposed to be better than this world? (To avoid religious discussion here, I will say I am NOT looking forward to dying. Come to your own conclusions on my position.)
As far as who my favorite astrophysicist is, the answer is in my post at 1KSmiles #983 Full Moon.
The answer MAY surprise and shock you. 🙂
The only people advocating that are people who aren’t living a happy life here now; yeah, I said it! 🙂 I did leave a comment on your blog; you just haven’t responded yet.
Oh and I was SO close to being first to reply. Maybe one day I will make the top spot. LOL! But you have so many awesome readers Mitch!
This is a subject pretty close to my heart Mitch.
Being the stay at home dad that I am, a lot of the time, I’m either at home alone or with one or both of my kids.
Adult conversation doesn’t happen until my wife gets home!
That can be a pretty lonely existence at times but I spend a lot of time blogging and connecting with other bloggers in between all the household stuff.
I’m a worrier at the best of times and that can induce a little paranoia.
However, when I’m feeling a little lonely or negative, I try and remember all that I have, my wife and kids, a great place to live, very few bills.
What’s not to be happy about? I’m sure I’ll always find something but I’m going to take a leaf out of your book and start thinking positively, watching more uplifting stuff and generally smiling more!
I haven’t used Facebook Purity before. I remember Adrienne writing about it too but I don’t tend to spend much time on Facebook these days anyway.
The next time I’m there, I give it a look.
Good deal Tim. These days it’s easy to find something uplifting or at least comical that can help to make you feel better, so one might as well take advantage of it. As for adult conversation… at least you get conversation. Most of the time, when I’m working from home, I can go days without talking to anyone live, and that can be depressing here and there. I’m really glad we have the internet now.
Since the end of 2013, I’ve discovered a new passion – to cook. This definitely give me a bit of boost between my work and help me to relax.
On the other hand, there is not much shift on the topics that I am reading and watching, excepts may be the fact that I am watching too much cartoon recently.
Carl, if I had someone else to do the cleaning up I’d cook often! lol
Sounds to me Mitch like you need a shot of my Friday Funnies every now and again 😉
I totally agree with you though which is why I tend to watch stuff that is exiting or will make me laugh. I try to keep away from depressing stuff as they can be a real downer.
Sire, I do stop by and check those things out. I just don’t have much to say as far as comments on those types of posts, and I’m not going to be caught dead saying “That was funny Sire” and leave it at that. lol
Yeah, I know, unless the post really cracks you up and then you can’t help yourself.
Hi Mitch,
You’ve touched on a couple of points that made me think “wow, I feel the exact same way.”
I read a lot of suspense and horror- dark sometimes scary stuff. Mostly Stephen King. I was reading a story by another author, whose writing made me feel like it was written by someone in love with a particular news network named for a small furry canine(I’m not giving either any free publicity.) Even though the story was dark and depressing there was one tiny segment that made me literally laugh out loud. Because of that I decided to add some variety of the positive, cheerful kind into my reading list.
As far as facebook, I’ve had to hide some posts from some relatives from appearing on my page. That way I figured if I ever meet them face to face again I won’t have their negative views fresh in my mind and want to strangle them. And it’s always about three or four topics that I bet you could easily guess.
I think the most important thing is to add some variety to all aspects of life. Well maybe not all, obviously!
Good stuff Aaron, and I’ve had to hide some stuff from certain relatives as well because I find it inappropriate; the younger ones. lol I love to listen to my stories and many of them are detective stories, and what I probably like is that they all end well, no matter how bad the stuff can get in the middle. That’s pretty helpful I’ll admit.
But in general, I’d rather have the stuff that’s making me smile as much as possible; for instance, the last couple of days I keep watching the movies Frozen and Despicable Me 2; I’m such a big kid. lol
I’m a little late because my life consists of writing and reading. However, I do try to consume positive stuff, not garbage. Yesterday, I told my friend that I was thinking about watching Judge Mathis. She said, “Maury is so much better.” She was joking (I think).
There is so much idleness and lack of originality around me that I refuse to get caught up in it all. However, I do bask in learning new stuff, meeting new people and embracing my creativity.
Hey Marcie. I’m with you on some of that but I’ll admit that if I’m changing channels and happen upon Maury and it’s one of those shows where they’re answering the question of whether someone is the father or not, I’m probably watching the rest of it; isn’t that a shame? lol Still, I find more joy in the funny stuff, although I just can’t completely get away from some of the smarmy sides of life. I just take in less of that type of thing than I used to because I want my mind to be in a positive place because I truly do believe that if our mindsets are in a positive place we’ll do better in all other endeavors.
I think you over-think Mitch, and from here start the negative… you should focus to your weekly goals and when things tend to go wrong remember your goals.
I’m not sure you’re commenting on the right article Daniel, since I didn’t talk about goals anywhere in this particular post.
Hi Mitch,
Hey I have been here before but didn’t comment. It is time I commented! (And thank you for commenting at my site . . . very nice).
I agree with you that it’s better to surround ourselves with positive things: TV, music readings, etc.
I am thinking of another example of negative: a particular friend who calls me and complains about . . . well whatever the week’s drama is. I get off the phone and think “I am exhausted. I have to stop thinking about this”. This is a person example but you are right, it also happens with negative readings etc. They can exhaust us or bring us down.
I believe that we can help others and that means listening to their complaints . . . but not all the time. The same thing with articles. Sometimes we have to read them. But we can offset that a lot with reading more positive articles.
I agree with you: it’s so much better to bring positive things in to our lives. P.S. I hear heaven is great . . . but I’ll save that debate for another time 🙂
Barb
Good stuff Barb. You know, my wife has a friend like that and whenever she starts telling me about it, I always say “you don’t have to answer the phone.” It’s a reason why almost no one has my cellphone number, and I have most of the ringers turned down on my phones so that it’s not implausible for people who know me to think either I’m not home or I didn’t hear the phone. It makes my life easier and happier sometimes. And I’m all about trying to be happy. 😉
Cool post! What I find very useful is a similar process I call thought filtering.Does your thought have a nice effect on you or your environment?If yes it is ok to have it.If not just stop it and there must be some reevaluation you should do on that thought.
That’s not a bad way of thinking of things Tom. In essence, are you doing what will help you or uplift you; good stuff!