QOTW: Dealing with negative influences

iVillage Member
Registered: 09-06-2005
QOTW: Dealing with negative influences
7
Tue, 05-09-2006 - 1:20pm

How do you deal with negative influences -- either in the media, in interpersonal relationships, on the job, at home, or anywhere else you can think of?


How do you stay healthy in light of what can be taken easily as a negative world view, with war, crime, violence, and the environment?


 

 

 

~Diana~

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
Tue, 05-09-2006 - 5:43pm

My answer is a finely-honed 'selective listening' skill.

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-04-2005
Tue, 05-09-2006 - 9:07pm

I try to be the best that I can be, take good care of myself and reach out to anyone else that might need a helping hand.

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iVillage Member
Registered: 09-06-2005
Wed, 05-10-2006 - 10:43am

Thanks for coming over, gingercookie.

 

 

~Diana~

iVillage Member
Registered: 09-06-2005
Wed, 05-10-2006 - 11:01am

Thanks, Elise for dropping by and for your thoughtfulness :)


 

 

~Diana~

iVillage Member
Registered: 04-16-2003
Wed, 05-10-2006 - 3:31pm

Great questions Diana!!!


If it is something that really touches my heart and I feel I can really make a change, then I try to face the influence and take it from there.


To stay healthy I have been practicing mindfulness and prayer, both of which help me

 

iVillage Member
Registered: 11-16-2001
Thu, 05-11-2006 - 9:07am

I think I also do a lot of selective hearing/looking/reading/watching when it comes to the media and to those around me.


When I look at women's magazines or fashion magazines, it's really mainly for the clothes and to see what's being made, trends, etc. That's my primary reason for buying these magazines anyways, and right now I mostly by those that are geared towards the industry if I do buy something.


It's rare that I buy women's magazines. I'd been reading them since I was 8, and by the time I was a young adult I'd read everything that needed to be read, really. They recycle everything. One thing that was crucial in my stopping to read these was all the articles about sex. When I was with my fiance I rarely read them because intimacy was never a problem (to the point that I couldn't understand why there were so many articles on sex). After we broke up, and when I missed having a fulfilling sex life, it seemed that that was all these magazines focused on. That, and promoting the newest diet. And perhaps now going gaga over the latest youth-prolonging technique. There's more to life than that. There's more to us than that.


I think we've got to decide first what our values and priorities are, where we stand, and use this as our guide and anchor. Otherwise it would be so easy to go with the flow, yet not knowing why. Or to blindly adopt other people's values and standards because we don't have our own. Once we do know who we are, and what we represent (or what represents us?), it's easier to navigate through all the negativities and influences that want to push us one way and another.


Notice that I said it's easier. It's never easy when you used to be thin and everybody sees you and their first comment is... "You're FAT!". Talk about triggering. I've had to learn to shrug. Yes, I might be heavier than usual, but I'm nice and kind and caring and intelligent and tolerant and beautiful and generous and... and the list goes on. I also know from experience that for some people I'll always be too fat or when I'm slim I'll be too skinny. There's no pleasing everyone at the same time. The person you have to please is yourself.

iVillage Member
Registered: 09-06-2005
Thu, 05-11-2006 - 4:01pm

Question?

 

 

~Diana~