Are you able to think positive? Like, can you always think about the good and not the bad?

Are you able to dwell on what’s right, or do you read the news on your social media feed?

St. Paul told the Philippians to think about these things: whatever is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, anything excellent or praiseworthy.

The result would be the peace of God according to Paul.

I have this sneaky feeling that we can ward off a great deal of anxiety, anger, and worry by not thinking about the things that make us anxious, angry, and worried. And since we have to think about something, maybe we should think about the things Paul would have us think about.

It seems like more and more people are taking this approach, that is, giving up the news. I never watch or listen to the “news” anymore. Below I will list all the ways giving up the news has negatively impacted my life.

1.

So how can we turn off the news in our head? Our own brains are the worst offenders when it comes to disseminating bad news, and just like the TV/Social Media news, most of it is not true. We have to turn off the bad news by turning on the good news. Whatsoever is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, praiseworthy.

What did our man Seneca say? He said this: “There are more things likely to frighten us than there are to crush us; we suffer more often in imagination than in reality.”

Can we think about what’s good and right? Not because somehow the “universe” is going to acknowledge the positive “power” that is emanating from our noggins, but because we won’t have time to ruminate on all the evils in the world, and thus make room for the peace of Christ to fill us.