By Mike Pinto, IPLI Mentor and Principal at James Cole Elementary

One of the challenges we all deal with each day is how much inconsequence we allow to enter our headspace. We are inundated with negativity that can fill our headspace and hijack our time. During simpler days, when we were home, we were home. The television might have offered a chance for news if you were available to watch it during the brief window it aired.  A newspaper could lay resting on the coffee table or front porch until you had the time or desire to unfold and read it. You could leave behind moments of negativity and inconsequence that you encountered all day when you stepped through your front door and settled into a chair in your living room. Now, the noise of the world seems everywhere while also appearing deafening at times.

Social media sites are influential in so many positive ways. They allow us to stay connected with loved ones half a world away while also connecting with others we might never have otherwise. They also encourage us to learn new ideas and to share triumphs, accomplishments, and joys with so many in our circle. But these sites also welcome individuals and negativity into our living rooms that would never enter otherwise. A handful of people are closely associated with life, which we openly and regularly welcome into our living rooms. What often happens in this fast-paced world that we live in is that our living room becomes filled with so much more than we would ever want, or quite honestly, the room can hold. Negativity is an optical illusion. It feels like it matters when you first look at it, but it is inconsequential the longer we stare at it. When we allow negativity to permeate our living rooms and fill our headspace, we do ourselves a disservice. We forget these views only hold consequences when we let them. 

The challenge is to navigate our day without bringing the worries or stresses from the outside into our living rooms. We do hold power over how much we focus on pieces outside our own space. We can control how many others we allow to take a seat beside us on the ‘mental sofa’ in our living room and fill our headspace with inconsequence. We can control this noise and can find greater balance when we ask ourselves, “Would I bring this home to my living room?”