Hi guys! Welcome to Episode 117 of the Wildly Successful Lifestyle podcast! Just a quick reminder…if you haven’t left a rating, scroll down and if you enjoy the episode give me a 5 star rating. Also subscribe and share it with a friend, maybe text them a link to this episode.
My husband and I were driving down the street the other day and I had noticed something earlier in the day that I hadn’t noticed before. But it kept happening all day and finally when it happened again…I had to say something to my husband to see if it was just me. Here’s what was happening. I kept noticing Asian people everywhere we went. I have never done this before and I know it didn’t just happen one day that there was an influx of Asians coming into our community. So why was I all of a sudden noticing this? The last few weeks there have been references to the Asian community experiencing hate and I had been on Instagram the day before and The Calm app had posted something about standing with our Asian community, which I was like, well of course we do, why would we not?
I don’t watch the news, I do read it here and there so I am generally aware of what is going on and because of what was in the news recently, I started noticing more people of Asian ethnicity. My husband said he noticed the exact same thing and I wonder how many of you have experienced this as well.. Now there is a function of our brain that causes us to see things that we are focused on. For example, When I decided I really wanted a range rover, I kind of thought it was a bit unique, but then all of a sudden I see Range rovers everywhere!! They were always there, I just wasn’t focused on them. They didn’t just all of a sudden show up. It really made me wonder how much of the problems that we deal with in America are created by the new narrative of the week. I mean we seem to go from one crisis to another and just when one thing seems solved there is a new thing to be outraged over.
I don’t know about you but I do not recognize the America that is portrayed on the news. I go about my day to day life and I genuinely interact with people of different origins or color daily. They don’t treat me any different because I’m white and I don’t treat them any different because they aren’t. I bet if you’re listening to this, you feel the same way. I live in a very diverse community and I love that so much. And I would venture to say most Americans feel the very same way, at there very least most don’t go around treating people poorly because of their race….Now, it DOES happen and we can never be ok with that, and should make sure we are not a part of it, but for the most part America is extremely diverse, generous and welcoming and regardless of your origin, you have the opportunity to become anything you want to be.
I ended last weeks Monday episode with “If you look for the bad, you will find it, but if you look for the good, you’ll find that too. Are we allowing the media to decide what we are looking for daily? For a vast majority of America and even other countries, I believe the answer to be YES. Now, if I’m correct in gauging my listeners, I bet you are not sitting around listening to the news 24/7. You are probably like me, you touch base with it, you don’t dwell on it, but you are still affected by it. Here’s the crazy part…Most Americans are not living that reality. Now some will say, of course you say that…you’re privileged. And to that I would say, yes I am. I’m privileged because I’m an American, not because I’m a certain color.
So how do we live in this beautiful world and stay positive without sticking our head in the sand? Isn’t that the million dollar question. First things first…Realize that you ARE being manipulated by what you focus on and what you watch. Awareness is the first step because you will start noticing subtle agendas in everything, and it isn’t all bad. I don’t care if it’s the news, the cable shows, movies, awards shows, social media, they all have an agenda. The agenda is to keep you watching. But here’s the thing…What keeps you watching isn’t rainbows and unicorns…because that’s boring and your brain isn’t addicted to that, your brain likes drama. So it can be very addictive to want to see your side score a point, or see the other side lose but what is that doing to your psyche? How is that framing your day? Once you’re aware and you notice how your thoughts are influenced, you have to THINK FOR YOURSELF. Don’t just blindly believe things. Anymore, the news is more opinion than fact. Well guess what ? You have an opinion too and you are brilliant in that you can think for yourself. That journalist stating his opinion as fact does not mean it is. and you get to choose to see through it. It’s also your responsibility to figure out whether it’s true or not before you believe it. And just because it feels good to hear it, doesn’t make it true. There are things I have read or heard that I liked the idea of and it felt good to read it and so I believed it, only to find it wasn’t true. So be careful of that too.
The older I get, the more I understand the statement that “Ignorance is bliss”. I sometimes think I would be better off if I didn’t know what the narrative of the week is. Right now, I believe it is more important than ever to trust your gut and to trust your ability to decide what is true, or to decide to just turn it all off and live based on your reality, which is probably way better than what is portrayed by the media and the narrative setters.
My challenge to you this week…Notice how your thoughts are shaped by what you see and hear around you. Re frame to make sure that they are actually YOUR thoughts and not some version of the narrative of the week. Finally Continue treating everyone regardless of their color, their religion or race with love and respect. And never forget, What you focus on is what you live. I love you and I’ll talk to you in a few days!
