For the anxious soul there are countless sources of anxiety. Some stressors are unavoidable, the mortgage must be paid, food put on the table, etc, but some stressors we choose and when we choose to let a stressor into our lives we should do so carefully.
For myself, political news and opinion is a stressor, yet I grew up a news junkie and lived to absorb every morsel of news. I never gave much thought to the affect it had on me although I had seen how agitated the evening news might make my late grandfather, Edward Hall.
So for years I indulged this seemingly innocuous, even educational, habit of staying up-to-date on the latest news without realizing that it might be doing more harm than good.
It all came to a stop in the fall of 1998 when depression and later anxiety began to creep up on me. I was desperate to simplify and eliminate any distraction that would give me more time and energy to focus on my legal studies. One evening it hit me: the evening news is making me more anxious.
So, I just walked away.
I was a news junkie going virtually cold-turkey and it was great. Oh, I still keep up with the headlines on a couple news sites just in case there is something I need to know, but I don’t indulge myself except for rare occasions such as a presidential election night or more recently the health care debates. Even then, once the issue has subsided pull myself away to avoid needless anxiety.
It’s a little thing, but something that provides great relief from a needless and daily stressor.
So look around your life, see what needless stressors you can eliminate and kick them to the curb. Let me know how you do in the comments section. Good Luck!
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