A client recently asked me, “Isn’t not watching the news and ignoring the problems of our times fake positivity?” This question ignited my curiosity, prompting a deep dive into the concept of “fake positivity” and how we can authentically navigate the challenges of our times.
“Fake positivity” is acting positive when you feel negative, or when you don’t believe acting positive can counteract the negative news or your thoughts and feelings about the news. What’s really happening here is your thoughts, words, and deeds are not aligned. Let’s figure out how we can align them, and why we want to choose thoughts that produce an elevated emotion.
According to David R. Hawkins, MD, PhD, and pioneer in consciousness research, emotions span a vast spectrum of frequencies. In his book, Power vs. Force, which is the result of 30+ years of research, he describes shame and humiliation as among the lowest frequency emotions at log 20, while enlightenment is between log 700–1000.
His research revealed that just “one individual at the 700 level counterbalances 70 million individuals below the level of 200.” Simply put: if we want to contribute to raising the consciousness of the planet, choosing to experience higher frequency emotions such as trust, optimism, love, and joy, not only makes our lives better but also contributes to the collective ripple effect in the world.
To circle back to “fake positivity,” I believe “fake positivity” is a perception. We cannot control the news and events around us; we can, however, control how we react to them.
If we choose a thought such as, “I can make a difference by contributing to a charity to counteract the negative I perceive,” or “I choose to be the example and live my life with integrity,” and marry those thoughts with emotions such as joy and happiness, we can begin to see our life shift, and likely see shifts in those around us, starting the ripple effect in our immediate circle.
When we consciously choose our thoughts, they shape our decisions, which, in turn, influence our actions, ultimately shaping our experiences and emotions. Wouldn’t we always want to choose thoughts that aligned with creating more joy and happiness in our lives?
Our emotions are our barometer of how we are doing. When our actions are not aligned with our thoughts—when our behaviors don’t match our intentions—it creates disharmony and we inadvertently create a negative emotion.
So, how do we not pay attention to toxic news? It’s a choice. We choose our reality. We choose how we want to live our lives. We choose how we react.
The business model of news agencies is built on selling advertising. To sell enough advertising, they need your attention for as many minutes or hours per day as they can get. Unfortunately, news agencies understand how the brain works; therefore, they exist to peddle fear because fear keeps us paralyzed, the same, and controlled.
Fear keeps the viewer (and much of the viewing public) in survival, or fight or flight, mode. If that’s where you want to live, that’s your choice. But if you want a better chance of living in creation and flow, where all possibilities exist, then wouldn’t it be better to turn off the negative stimuli that are purposefully designed to put you into fight or flight?
To put it bluntly, the news and social media industries use weapons-grade limbic hijacking to keep us in fear and coming back for more.
Choosing the intention to have our thoughts, words, and deeds align with producing joy and happiness is not “fake positivity.” It is an active choice to live with a conscious intention to create the life of our dreams.
To truly get to the place where you do not react negatively to the news, you will need to become familiar with some of your signature actions and behaviors; you will make the unconscious conscious and the invisible visible. You need to become familiar with your beliefs. Beliefs are a driving factor in our subconscious programming and conditioning that produce our reality.
When you become conscious of the thoughts, actions, and emotions you no longer want, you begin the process of unlearning/undoing them and replacing them with what you do want to become. This is the process of ascension or self-mastery.
The responsible citizen dilemma forces us to strike a delicate balance between staying informed and cultivating happiness. As we’ve explored, “fake positivity” is not the answer; rather, it’s about aligning our thoughts, words, and actions with the emotions of joy and happiness.
The journey toward self-mastery and conscious living is ongoing, but it’s a journey worth embarking on. By disconnecting from the fear-driven narratives of the news and embracing a conscious intention to elevate our own lives, we become catalysts for positive change in the world.
So, I invite you to take a moment to reflect on your choices, to consider the impact of your thoughts, and to join the ranks of those who are shaping a brighter, more harmonious future. The power to become the best version of yourself, and in turn, contribute to a higher collective consciousness, lies within your grasp. Your journey begins now.
