Politics, guns, shootings, bombings, abortion, attacks, rape, famine, poverty – we see it every day, all around us, all the time. I’ve talked to a lot of people lately and it seems like with all the events happening around the world, media and social outlets have turned much more negative these days. People have become more negative, unfortunately and our environment is swirling in negativity.

Several people I’ve talked with are ready to get off of social media, if they haven’t already, because they can’t take the bad vibes and complaining in their feeds. There are even studies showing that people who are not on it experience more happiness almost immediately.

It got me thinking about some of the practices I’m learning to put in place for myself to help make my space a drama and negativity free zone. I think it’s important for everyone to learn how to stay positive in a negative world. Here’s what I’ve found to be helpful and as harsh as some of it may sound it’s all with the best intentions for well being and living a life of the highest good.

Don’t play into the hype.

The biggest thing I’ve learned is not to play into things that are not of value. Often the energy it takes to get involved takes away from something much more productive we could be doing with our time. Pass on commenting or playing into things that aren’t coming from a positive place, even if it means biting your tongue or not offering an opinion.

To add to that, if someone is directly picking a fight, disrespecting you or being argumentative, sometimes the best thing to do is nothing at all. By disengaging, you remove yourself from the situation and don’t allow yourself to exert any energy on anything that causes unhappiness or takes away from what you’re about. It also shows that sometimes being at peace and being happy is more important than trying to be right or even being involved. And sometimes saying nothing at all, actually says it all.

Cut the cords.

Sometimes you have to straight up delete, unfriend, block, remove or get rid of people from your life. Cut the cords, even if only figuratively in your mind with making a decision to distance yourself. If they aren’t adding value or creating positive vibes in your life, it’s okay to make the decision to remove them. No one wants others blasting their news feed with negativity or complaining. You can guarantee that I’m unfollowing or deleting you if I see this. It’s that simple. I work very hard in my life to remain in a positive mindset and I don’t want anything near me that takes away from this.

Sometimes we have to wish the negative Nancy’s and Debbie downer’s well on their journey while realizing we don’t have space for that on ours. I’ve learned that walking away from people and situations that threaten my peace of mind, self worth or respect is just part of the journey and is necessary for happiness.

Be the light.

I challenge you in a world full of negativity, to be the one spreading the light. Go out of your way to be the person who is being positive, putting out helpful information and helping others in any way you can. Do your best to be a good person and make decisions that support giving your best to this world. Live in truth, abstain from being dishonest, be authentic and of good intention. Don’t let yourself contribute to any kind of darkness in any way by watching your own actions and being mindful of your behavior. Our mission in this life should be to contribute to society in a way that makes an impact and causes positive change. Even if you only help one person or shine one light, it’s still more than most are doing.

Not only that, but pay attention to how and where you are spending your time. It’s okay to visit dark places if you are there to shine your light, but don’t stay there for long or frequent places with dark energy often. Keep your frequency in high vibe areas, zones and places with people who are doing the same. When you’re living in the light, that is a force to be reckoned with and can have such a profound impact on everyone around you. Be the light. Spread the light. Travel light. And most importantly, live in the light.

Protect your space.

I’ve said it many times, your tribe affects your vibe. Make sure your circle is vibing high and making you feel elevated. You become just like the people you hang with the most. So, make sure you are hanging with peeps who are being the light too, making moves and offering goodness into the world through positive and helpful endeavors. Keep tight watch on who you allow into your space and make sure that if someone in your clique isn’t contributing, that you kindly show them the door if your attempts to raise their vibrations have failed.

Set standards for your space just like you set standards for yourself. They are both equally important and correlated. This also goes for minding your thoughts and words. Speak to yourself and others kindly and make sure the energy you are putting out is in line with what you want to receive back.

Get on your spiritual practice game.

Compassion is so huge when you feel you’re around negative energy fields. Understanding that how people behave isn’t up to you and while they may be reflecting something back to you that is familiar, in the end all you can be responsible for is how you react. Not only how you react, but what you allow. Tuning into our spirit helps to keep our reactions in check as best a possible and also helps us to hear and follow our intuition on who and what we allow in our lives.

When you have a solid spiritual practice in place, you are rooted in a foundation that will help you practice compassion with more ease and stay grounded in this chaotic world. It is then, that the chaos around you cannot get inside you and if it happens to make its way inside somehow, you have tools in your spiritual box that help you to balance and re-center such as prayer, meditation, breathing, yoga or anything that helps you connect to God and your soul. The best thing you can do to keep yourself vibing high is to get and stay on your spiritual practice game.

Let’s all start to be mindful about our space and what we can do in our corner of the universe. While things might be hectic and even scary in this world we live in, we can do our part to clean our side of the street. So, when we see disaster striking everywhere and drama surrounds us, we know that we have a peaceful spot carved out for ourselves that we can retreat to and hopefully invite others in to find shelter too.

With all the violence, hatred, tragedy and negativity constantly emerging around us, it’s so important to learn how to cultivate a space and environment that allows for more happiness and positivity. Always remember: there are two sides to life. You get to choose which side you live on. Namaste.