In this age of ‘information overload’, we are ingesting more and more data every moment of every day — a lot of is not only useless but highly toxic and damaging to our own psyche.

Whenever you read a newspaper or magazine, listen to the radio, look a the TV or consume media on the web, it’s critical to stop and ask yourself, ‘is this really relevant to me? And is this information helpful to me and others, or is it simply judgmental and even toxic, causing a highly charged negative emotional reaction within me (and anyone else who cares to read it)?’

Has your ingestion of daily data become a mindless habit, a fruitless ego desire to know everything ‘wrong’ with the world and yet do nothing about it, except worry, complain, or gossip?

Habits are easy to form, and difficult to break.

As you read, listen or watch anything, be intensely present.  Watch your body’s reactions, your mental reactions (thoughts) and your emotions as they surface. Be at least as interested in ‘you’ as the entertainment you engage in.

Are you poisoning yourself? Are you ingesting mental toxins again and again? You may have become so accustomed to this pattern that it may even seem to bring you some sort of perverse ‘pleasure’.

Do you have the habit of flicking to the ‘entertainment’ or ‘sport’ sections after you read grueling, upsetting stories happening in your own part of the world, or elsewhere?  Many do… it’s just ‘normal’ behaviour.

Well, it may be ‘normal’ but there’s nothing natural about it.

Ask yourself, is there some sort of ‘pleasure’ that goes with the pain – the pain inside you? The pain must be already inside you for you to identify with it.

The ego likes to see others in pain, because it feels better about itself.  This ‘pleasure’ can be very subtle – and can easily go unnoticed by a person who is still asleep.

So, how can you reverse this deeply ingrained, unconscious social conditioning?

First, you must want to… there is no change without a strong desire to overcome deeply ingrained patterns.

Assuming you want to, then do the following each day:

Take the time to feed your mind nourishing thoughts every day. Make it a priority to seek out books, podcasts, tv shows and films that inspire and uplift you – and share that positive energy with others!

Also take the time to just ‘be’… be in silence for a while each day. Find respite in nature, where the mental chatter and chaos can subside and eventually leave you.

You can contribute to the endless psychic pollution of this world (your mind will look much like the dusty, cracked mirror above, heavily distorting the information it is able to ‘read’ and ‘send out’ to others), or you can be a source of Light, blessing yourself and others.