We baby boomers have seen a rapid change from a mostly uncomplicated world to an overnight explosion of information that leaves us reeling with uncertainty. We do our best to prioritise the important stuff, but the avalanche of emails in the inbox, messages in the social media feeds, as well as managing our “real life” families doesn’t leave much time to relax.
Many middle-agers in Australia grew up with a lot of freedom, where we were often told as kids to “be home by dark”. These days kids have to be protected from terrorists as well as the boogie man. We have become a culture of fear-mongers, fed on a frenzied diet of media exposure to graphic violence and greed.
Sometimes it feels safer to just turn the television off and walk away from the gossip groups. There is no need to be concerned that you might miss out on some major incident, because the news is the conversation starter everywhere you go. People don’t need much encouragement to share bad news, so something important will always find you.
If you are stressed by world events, have a holiday from the news. Let your friends know to keep you informed of major issues, but let them know that you need a break from information overload. Ignore your emails for a few days… they’ll be there when you get back, and decide how you would like to manage your life, rather than feeling controlled by all the things that you “should” do in order to fulfill your role in life.
Do your best to take a “back to basics” approach to what needs to be done and see how much less stressed you feel.
