Happy Healthy YOU
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(A wellness column by Kelly Spencer: writer, life coach, yoga & meditation teacher, holistic healer and a mindful life enthusiast!)
Last week, I opened my lap top. There it was. A newsflash story about the death of the great comedic actor, Betty White, at the age of 95 years old.
But wait.
Is this true?
Nope.
As I searched the details online, I learned that while Ms. White is truly 95 years old, she is still alive and well.
But how can this be? It’s a news story that is being spread all over the Internet? Bamboozled.
Over the last couple of months, the President of the United States of America claimed several astounding allegations. He asserted his inauguration was the largest attended presidential inauguration in history, despite photographs that proved absolute falseness to this claim.
At a White House press conference he insisted he won the Electoral College by the highest count win in history with a count of 306. He in fact had 304 votes. The reporter told him that Obama had won with 365 votes. The US President replied he meant he achieved a bigger Electoral College victory than any Republican since Reagan in 1980. But even that isn’t true: George H.W. Bush got a hefty 426 electoral votes in the 1988 election.
When further challenged on this claim, he replied, “I was given that information. I don’t know. I was just given it…”
Recently with no proof, this same President tweeted that the former President, Barack Obama illegally wire tapped him. No evidence of this has substantiated the claim. The USA Intelligence community states there is absolutely, deniably, no evidence to support this claim.
Right now we are soberly facing a lot of intense world news, from ecological to political or even our favorite entertainers. Should we not be able to trust what is being reported?
It seems to me that if the world of media, Internet, news reports and even the so called largest leader of the free world are offering straight up lies, that this gossip will create a spinning of confusion that will only be profoundly expanded.
gos·sip Noun. Definition: casual or unconstrained conversation or reports about other people, typically involving details that are not confirmed as being true.
This fake news is bamboozling us by the masses and is no more than a company staff-room gossip session on steroids. It can be scary, harmful and fear-creating and just simply make us wonder what really is true.
It can have a sinking impact on our morale by making us focus and engage in matters of non-truth. For example, I read Betty White died (again, she did not, it was fake news), I took some time from my day to engage in reading about it and I felt an array of emotions. We know our physical body has a direct response to our mental and emotional response. Then I discovered it was not true. The time spent engaging and the subsequent reaction, emotionally and physically was for absolutely nothing. Nothing.
Even gossip that perhaps might be true is wasting to our energy. Whether it’s an entertainer, a politician or a person you actually know, chatting with other people and spending time and energy enthralled with someone else’s drama whether it is their divorce, job loss, friend fight and so on, is a total waste of time. Be responsible for the energy you put into and out to the world.
People really don’t think about the destruction they’re creating while gossiping. It can be damaging to reputations, people’s feelings and affect your own energy that you are participating in. Most of us don’t trust people that gossip and often wonder what is said about us, behind our backs.
Janice Robinson-Celeste, MBA and magazine Editor-in-Chief states, “In my seminars, I ask attendees, 'What if you were born with a finite amount of words that you could speak, then once you reached that number, you drop dead. How wisely would you use your words? Would you waste your precious words talking about others?' Their reactions are priceless. People so often don’t think about their words, they just come out like a faucet on full blast.”
I never used to watch the news and detached to what was happening in the world, offering zero opinion or solution but rather, escaping reality by avoiding it. Alternatively, when I watched I could easily become fixated on the news, bogged down in the darkness and feel depressed or angered by it, which compromises my ability to create positive actions. In both of these extreme responses, no one gains.
Gossip or fake news... whether we are hearing it, engaging in it or initiating it, it is like participating with a bully. It influences us negatively with its lack of trust and we create bonds with the wrong people and with the wrong information.
So what can we do?
1. Play Detective. A simple “Google search” can often let us know if we are being bamboozled or not. However, some information is much more subtle and insidious. If you only watch one TV news station, try watching another one and see if there is a projected angle. Notice if this news outlet is deeply leaning one way, or cannot substantiate with evidence to their opinion-based “truths”. Investigate the truth by other means.
2. Balance. If you feel overwhelmed by news reports or are feeling untrusting of the information, turn it off. Find balance between world events and personal enjoyment.
3. Don’t participate. Walk away from discussions about other people not present. I am not referring to sharing feelings about a situation that involves you or affects you with a confidante, but rather the chats that start with “Did you hear about...?” It’s like participating in a socially destructive game of childhood telephone. Each time someone shares the story, it mutates.
4. T.H.I.N.K. Whether it’s something you are sharing on your social media or conversation with a person, stop and THINK. T = is it true? H = is it helpful? I = is it inspiring? N = is it necessary? K = is it kind?
Satya is a Sanskrit word for truthfulness and in yoga practice it guides us to think, speak, and act with integrity. The word sat means “that which exists, that which is.” The yogic practice of Satya (truth) focuses on carefully choosing our words so they do the least harm - and most good.
I suggest for our own health and happiness, we also carefully review, investigate and ultimately choose the words we hear, as well.
(If you would like to see an article on a specific topic, please email kelly@indigolounge.ca)