When I was eight years old, I made one of the biggest mistakes of my life: I watched Bela Lugosi’s Dracula. By myself. Lugosi was terrifying. For the next week, I hardly slept at all. Every time I turned out the lights I saw his pale, menacing face hovering in every darkened doorway. I was one exhausted third-grader. That one incredibly spooky vampire movie had such a profound effect on me that I realized I had to be more careful about what I watched.

Since then I’ve come to understand that everything I watched, or read, or listened to had the potential to impact me in some way. Think about it. You know those times when you hear a song on the radio and it’s stuck in your head for days. You find yourself humming it at random moments, and you don’t know why. Here’s the kicker: you don’t even like the song! 

What we choose to watch, read, or listen to can have profound effects on us.

 

When you choose something to watch, read or listen to you probably don’t think about how it affects your mind.  But whether you realize it or not, every choice matters. Why? Because, just like that annoying song you can’t get out of your head, it takes up space in your brain. It may even decide to move in and live there for awhile. This is just a small example of why we need to be selective about what we fill our heads with, so to speak.

The books we read, the shows we watch, the information we browse online, anything we allow inside our minds creates a ripple effect. Like throwing a stone in a pond, the waves continue long after the stone sinks out of sight.

Everything we watch, read, or listen to affects us.

When you understand this concept it’s easy to see why it’s important to be discerning about what you allow to take up space in your mind. A catchy song or jingle is basically harmless, but what about something like the news? So many people begin and end the day watching stories about murders and train wrecks and then wonder why feel anxious all the time and can’t sleep at night. 

Not that knowing certain things isn’t important. But we must decide for ourselves what’s important, and even more importantly, what’s beneficial for our well-being.  There is a cause and effect relationship between what we take in and how we feel. You may not notice it immediately. It may be more subtle than my Bela Lugosi catastrophe. But what we take in affects us, sometimes more deeply than we realize. 

We have the power to make choices that benefit our well-being.

But there’s good news: we have the power to choose what we allow in. In this way, we become our own gate keepers and guardians.

When you think about how information and messaging can potentially affect your mind and thoughts, don’t you feel a little bit protective? Isn’t it worth considering how these things affect your thoughts? Your happiness? 

Just as we put time and dedication into curating our social media feeds, we can apply this same level of care to curating our mental feed and choosing to read, watch, and listen to things that benefit us in the best way.

Take the curate my feed challenge!

I love a challenge, don’t you? Take the Curate My Feed 7-day challenge! Write down everything you read, watch, and listen to. Then ask yourself the following questions:

1. Do I like the way I feel after reading/watching/listening to this?

2. How does reading/watching/listening to this benefit me?

3. Should I keep or remove it from my feed?

Then make a conscious choice to eliminate anything that doesn’t help you in some way. You can even cross it off your list with your favorite pen. Your brain will thank you!

For the next two weeks, I encourage you to stick with this challenge and notice your results. I have even included this handy checklist so you can keep track.I’d love to hear how it goes, so please feel free to share about your experience in the comments section below.

As always, wishing you well-being and happiness!