If you have been experiencing periodic bouts of hopelessness or feeling anxious about current events, you’re not alone.
Many of us are trapped in an endless loop of bad news that we feel duty-bound to go back to each day.
The problem with this is that we allow our primary information platforms to be the same ones that keep us focused on the ugliest things people are saying or doing.
We willingly give them our attention when we could choose to give it to other things that matter.
And these platforms feed us information that’s intended to keep us alarmed and feeling hopeless.
The answer to finding peace in challenging circumstances starts with where we choose to put our focus.
A friend once explained to me that when current events begin to feel overwhelming, he doubles down on improving his relationship with his Creator.
He said that as his relationship with God improved, those other things just didn’t matter as much.
This isn’t the same thing as putting our heads in the sand and pretending that nothing is wrong.
It’s about prioritizing our attention and our energy in ways that don’t work against us.
When we are actively directing our efforts toward things that we can influence, we have less time to worry about those things we can’t.
The more we focus our attention on the things over which we have legitimate control, the more quickly we find a measure of peace.
Shifting Our Focus