“Did you hear about [insert current event here]?” & why I almost always say “No”.

At least once a week, my partner comes home from work and asks me:

“Did you hear about … ?”

Every week it’s a different event, from local issues like weather warnings to international news like natural disasters, terrorism or another shooting in the US.

Almost every time she asks a variation of this question, I say:

“No, what happened?”

And she’ll give me a quick rundown, sometimes opening a news story and reading me the important facts.

I rather like things this way.

In mid-2018, I deleted many of my social media profiles. At the same time, I deleted all social media apps from my phone. I no longer mindlessly scroll through news feeds or feel attached to my phone. Instead, I check my few social media profiles (Medium, Facebook and LinkedIn) once per weekday from my laptop, as part of my work tasks.

Additionally, I don’t watch much television, I don’t buy newspapers and I don’t check news websites except when I log out of my Hotmail account and I’m automatically redirected to MSN.

As such, I’m not ashamed to admit, I don’t know much about what’s happening in the world.

In fact, I enjoy being consciously oblivious.

I know if it’s serious, Charlotte or someone else in my life will tell me about it. Even if it is, learning about the event often only serves to make me emotional about something that I am powerless to change.

Instead, I prefer to devote my attention and energy to things I can control.

There is so much negativity in this world, and it played a big part in why I left my previous social work role. Each human being can only take on so much negativity before it starts to take a toll.

So, in the interest of my own self-care, I protect my mindset and emotions. I only choose to allow stuff in my life which adds value. I choose not to give emotion to things I cannot change, preferably by not even knowing about them in the first place.

It may sound selfish, but as individuals, we cannot change the world. We can only change a small part of it. And for as long as I devote my attention to things that I cannot change, I am taking that attention away from the things I can.

6-months ago, I committed to changing my life and empowering others how to do the same.

In devoting all of my energy to this, I know I can change my little piece of the world.

Where are you focusing your energy in your world?

If it’s in the wrong place, jot down your details below, and I’ll show you how simple it is to turn your life around.