Change the Channel

Let’s mark down today as THE DAY when we start changing the channel. The day when we stop that negative voice in our head from playing any longer than it needs to. Let’s decide once and for all that when we see something that doesn’t make us feel good about ourselves, we simply change the channel.

I have friends who watch a lot of Netflix, like a lot. I don’t know how they can watch so much TV! What I notice is that when they are watching something they don’t like, they just change the program. They stop watching it and turn on something different. It’s as easy as that. No drama, no intrigue, just a simple switch of the show. Like changing the channel when you are watching something you aren’t interested in, how about you change the channel when you see, hear, or tell yourself something that isn’t helping you?

So many times, in life, we are hit with things we have no control over: the terrible weather, the bad health report, the traffic jam, the kids’ report cards…but we do have control over the channel in our minds.  When things start feeling overwhelming, when we are stressed out, when we start to go down that self-pity spiral, how about we stop and change the channel? I know people, who, when something isn’t going their way, instead of moving on to something more positive, they pull up a chair, bust out some popcorn, and take a front seat to watch that negative show. It’s like they can’t stop watching the negative, and when they start to be entertained by this terrible show, they start watching even worse things! It isn’t helping them. It isn’t entertainment and it isn’t healthy.

I see so many people who start their days by drinking a gallon of coffee, watching the news, and then sitting for an hour in traffic on their way to work. No wonder they are miserable! They aren’t helping themselves! Here’s the deal. The news is negative. It always has been and it always will be – it is fueled by fear. Fearful things are what viewers pay attention to. When viewers watch these shows, the station makes more money. It’s that simple. Starting your day off by watching the news is not going to set you up for success! What you watch infiltrates into your mind! It isn’t healthy!  So why do you keep doing it?

10 years ago, I was in a very dark place. Things were just not going well for me. I didn’t like my job, I didn’t like my boyfriend, I felt stuck but I had no energy so I didn’t see how I could be bothered to make any real changes. At the time, I had a friend who seemed like she had it all together – she was happy, excited, always seeing the positive in everything. I wanted a piece of that! I asked her what her secret was and she said that she is very protective of what she allows in. She doesn’t let anything negative into her protective shield. Her shield? Huh? She said that she puts up a mental shield all around her that protects her from anything that isn’t positive, or sent with light and love, from coming into her protective shield. It takes effort at first, she said, but over time, eventually you just wire your brain to only pay attention to the positive. She stopped watching the news, doesn’t follow celebrity gossip, and doesn’t surround herself with people that make her feel worse about herself. She just won’t let it in. She changed the channel! She did it!

You can do it too. When things aren’t going well for you, when you feel like everything you do is met with some resistance, when life throws a curve ball at you, when you start comparing yourself to others, when you are hit at all sides with things that aren’t what you wanted. Put up a shield. Change the channel. Protect yourself. Life is too short to be swimming in the negative murk of any of that stuff.

Do yourself a favor, don’t pull up that chair and start getting entertained by the negative. Put the popcorn down, bust out the remote. Change the channel.  

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