Protecting oneself from bad news

How do you protect yourself from bad news? 

I've stopped actively listening to the news, but I haven't stopped talking to people and bad things happen to people all around and they tell you about it. I have never thought of protecting myself before now and have found myself absorbing these horrible stories. My heart aches for the people involved and I find myself thinking about these things over and over again.

I don't think that my spirit was meant to endure negative energy for prolonged periods of time. My rehashing the stories I've been told and feeling the pain and sadness for them is of no use to anyone. But I can't seem to stop my mind from seeking out this sadness. I know bad things happen and I have empathy for the people it happens to, but I don't want to bring myself down for days sometimes, because of these bad things.

So how to stop it?

I'm not going to stop talking to people and I'm not very well going to tell them that I only want to hear the good things they have to say. That is not what life is about. Having relationships with people is letting them tell you about themselves and what's going on in their lives, including the bad stuff. Sometimes talking about it is a step in their healing process. You should be honored that you can help in that process, but that doesn't mean that you have to take the bad stuff with you.

Here is a little advise I've been given. I haven't had a chance to try it out yet so I can't tell you if it helps. Go outside into nature and breath deeply. Breath in clean air - relatively depending on where you are and breath out the old, stale air. Walk bare foot on mother earth, allowing her to absorb all the negative energy from your body. Meditate. Imagine a golden light extending more than a meter from your body. The significance of a meter is that your aura extends a meter from your physical body, and this golden light needs to extend slightly past your aura to protect it when coming into contact with another persons aura.It's like putting yourself in a golden bubble of light.

I would love to hear what you do to protect your spirit. If you haven't been doing it up to now and try any of these, let me know in the comments how they work for you.

Spoiling the view

Why do you go to the botanical gardens?

I go to enjoy nature, breath some relatively fresh air and get the children out the house and away from electronic devices. I also enjoy the little bit of exercise that I get from walking around the place. I relax and connect to my inner soul and sometimes take my shoes off to feel the grass beneath my feet and interact with the earth. I want to teach my children to enjoy and cherish the beauty of nature and the earth.

But how disappointing when I get there to find the remnants of a party strewn all across the lush lawns.The lawn isn't looking so natural with champagne bottles and blue serviettes lying all over the place. And the rose garden should have bark chips keeping the soil damp, not ice-cream wrappers. 

Who are these people that come to one of the few places we have left in the cities to be with nature and leave a trail of destruction and filth behind them? If they are allowed to continue behaving as they please these havens of nature will soon only feature in scrapbooks of what our city used to look like.

How do you suggest we sort them out? 

I thought an entrance fee might help. It does to some extent. But there too I have found litter spoiling the view. Charge a higher fee and you'll have less people and you'll also have those who believe they paid entrance, so they can do as they please. 

If you don't appreciate the view of nature, then don't go to these places. Keep your rubbish at home with you and invite your like minded friends to take their litter with to the party at your house.

Take my hand