Are you there?

Yes, we are there.

Today, I’d like to talk about the news media. I realize that this is a topic we’ve explored before on numerous occasions, most recently in our conversation on politics, but it continues to be a source of frustration for me and for many others. At the moment, I’m doing my best to steer clear of online news reporting, especially when it focuses on the political situation in this country, but when there’s a big, ongoing story that grabs my attention, I find myself slipping back into my old behavior, anxiously and obsessively checking all the news sites numerous times during the day to see how things are developing. To be honest, it feels very much like an addiction to me, and I’m sure there are others who feel the same way. I continue to engage in behavior that increases my worry and concern, but I can’t seem to stop.

Let us start, then, with the basics. Ask yourself this: If I am experiencing low-frequency emotions such as worry and concern while engaging in ANY behavior, what is my emotional guidance system telling me about this behavior?

That it’s pulling me out of alignment with the frequency and the vibration of the energy of Source, making it harder for me to stay in touch with who I really am and why I have come.

Indeed.

I get that, of course. But as you know, it’s very easy to lose sight of the importance of looking for ways to feel good and stay aligned when you find yourself in the middle of a situation, any situation, that lowers your vibration. Once your vibration drops, everything shifts, your perspective darkens, and depending on how dark it gets, it can seem almost impossible to pull yourself out of it. The “metaphysical amnesia,” as you like to call it, returns pretty quickly and before you know it, you’ve completely forgotten what you’re doing, who you really are and why you’re here. This back and forth is all a part of the awakening process, I know, but it can be very challenging for us humans to remain focused on choosing to feel good when we’re so used to maybe not always feeling so good much of the time.

Which brings us to the heart of the matter – acknowledging and understanding the quality and effect of the choices that you are making for yourself, regardless of whether those choices are consciously or unconsciously made. The time has come for you to realize that while you may continue to indulge in behavior that does not make you feel good, i.e. reading news that upsets or frustrates or angers you, these moments represent an opportunity for you to shift your identification from the personality self or the conceptual self – the part of you that can sometimes feel bad – to a state of conscious awareness – the part of you that always, naturally feels good.

I can certainly see the benefit of shifting my perspective when I find myself engaging in behavior that makes me feel bad, but as I said, it can be a very, very challenging. It really does feel like an addiction, like something I have little or no control over.

Before we proceed any further, let us remind you of yet another basic principle behind the work that you are doing here on the physical plane, the work that we are doing together – you ALWAYS have control over the choices that you are making, you ALWAYS have control over what you are experiencing, you ALWAYS have control over what you are feeling. Indeed, in a world over which you actually have very little control when it comes to the choices and behavior of others, there is one thing that you can always rely on because it is an inherent part of who you really are, and that is your ability to form your own intentions, to make your own choices, to access your own personal power when it comes to how you experience the world. Do you see?

Yes, I see. Yet another thing we all have a tendency to forget.

Now, let us take a closer look at the choice you are making when it comes to your interactions with the news media. As you know, and this is true of every incarnated being, your experience of the events in the world around you is often colored by your thoughts ABOUT those events rather than the events themselves. Indeed, at their core, all events occurring within your experience are essentially neutral. The difference between how you or another individual may respond to these events depends greatly upon one’s own personal belief system. This is why one individual may respond in one way to an event and another in another.

It makes sense, certainly, that how I perceive the news and the way it is reported affects my response to it. I mean, the news alone, when I judge it as “bad” news, can throw me out of alignment, but I have to admit that much of what I read these days seems more like personal opinion than real news, and so I spend a lot of my time judging the media as well for the way they do their job. I want to stay in touch with what’s going on in the world, and that includes the political situation both in this country and elsewhere, but I’ve found that if I spend too much time preoccupied with the news and the way it’s reported, I start to feel angry, frustrated and upset. As I said, I try to stay away from all of it, but I don’t seem to be doing a very good job of it. I keep getting drawn back in, and then I feel guilty for allowing that to happen. It makes me wonder exactly what I’m looking for.

What exactly ARE you looking for? What are you hoping to feel when you log onto a news site? Take a moment to really think about this question. What is your aim, your objective, your end goal? Are you simply looking to stay informed or do you want to allay your fears about the state of the world? Are you looking for some kind of support from those who think and believe the same as you do or are you hoping to see the views of those who do not believe the same as you disproved, defeated, crushed?

Well, I guess it’s a combination of all of those things, but only because I think that if I can satisfy any one of those intentions, I’ll feel better. It’s true that when I read a story that contains information or an opinion or a point of view I agree with, one that aligns with my own point of view, I feel vindicated and validated. Conversely, when I read a story that doesn’t align with my point of view, I allow my fears to get the better of me and I feel outrage or anger or frustration because I can’t control the direction the world is moving in. I keep hoping to read news that will make me feel safer, more confident about what’s happening in the world around me, but while I do sometimes feel those things, those feelings never last very long and, in the end, there’s very little comfort to be had because I know that sooner or later, another story will surface that will push me out of alignment again.

Why, then, do you think that you engage in an activity that you hope will bring you some sort of comfort and relief, but instead only triggers fear and anxiety?

I’m not sure. Could it be that, like many humans, I believe deep down that I deserve to feel bad for some reason?

Or could it be that you are simply doing what all humans persons do when they engage in any activity, any activity at all, and that is searching for a way to feel good?

Oh, well, I guess that could be true. When I read the news, I am looking for stories, for news, that will ultimately make me feel good. And I guess that even though I’m often disappointed, I keep going back because maybe next time my experience will be different, that what I read next will make me feel better.

And so, given what we discussed at the start of this conversation, about why it is so important for all human persons to find reasons to feel good, what do you think it is that you are really looking for when you engage in this behavior?

Well, if I’m actually looking for reasons to feel good, that must mean that my primary intention behind this behavior, or any behavior I engage in, is to stay aligned with who I really am, with my true self, as often and for as long as I can. And that would mean that when I’m reading these news stories, despite how frustrated or angry they make me feel sometimes, I’m must be, in some way, looking for myself.

Indeed.

I have to say that I never thought of it in that way. We’re often so quick to criticize our own behavior that it doesn’t occur to us that maybe everything we do, even when it seems otherwise, is driven by a search for experiences that will help us to wake up to who we really are. Although I’m not so sure that the news, especially the political news, is the best place to go in search of good feelings.

And yet, here we are. Can you begin to see that this conversation that we are currently engaged in is not about the media, per se, or the news that they report? For indeed it is not. The media is simply the medium you are utilizing as you work your way towards remembrance, and as such, it is, for the moment, an integral part of your practice, your spiritual practice. You are coming to understand that by choosing to expose yourself to the emotional contrast of the physical plane, in this case to the news messages that trigger your low-frequency emotions, you are gradually learning to remain detached, observant and non-judgmental when you encounter some of the darker aspects of the human experience. Perhaps not consistently as of yet, but you are awakening to your own ability to stay aligned when dealing with ALL of your thoughts and emotions, regardless of their frequency and vibration. Despite how it may appear to you, this is movement forward. Do you see? There are many ways in which one may facilitate the awakening process. At this present-point in time, this is one of yours.

You’ve given me a lot to think about. Next time, I’d like to explore some of the ways I can engage with the news of the world without triggering so many low-frequency emotions.

We would very much enjoy assisting you with that. Until next time then.

Thank you all.

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